What Happens When One Spouse Builds a Home and the Other Builds a Career?
A recent family court ruling in Israel dealt with a situation many couples quietly face — but few openly discuss. What happens when one spouse spends decades building a home, raising children, and supporting the family — while the other climbs the corporate ladder, amassing wealth and assets?
This is exactly what unfolded in a divorce case in Israel that recently made headlines.
The Background: 30 Years of Marriage, One Career, One Household
The couple met as teenagers and married in the early 1990s. From the start, they had clear roles: she became a full-time homemaker and mother, while he pursued a career at a large international company.
Over the years, the husband earned more than 200,000 NIS per month, collecting bonuses and stock packages. The wife, meanwhile, stayed home, cared for their children — including a son with severe ADHD — and ran the household.
In 2020, after three decades of marriage, the husband packed up and left the family home, asking shortly after to sell their shared apartment. The wife opposed the sale, claiming abandonment and expressing concern that their son would not have a stable place to live.
The Legal Claims: Compensation, Abuse, and Alimony
The wife filed multiple claims in family court, including:
- Compensation for sacrificing her career and economic independence
- Allegations of financial abuse and psychological mistreatment
- A claim for rehabilitative alimony
- A share of assets transferred by her husband without her consent
While the court dismissed the abuse and concealment claims due to lack of evidence — noting the husband continued covering household expenses — the judge still addressed the economic imbalance in their divorce.
The Family Court’s Ruling
In one of the more notable recent divorce rulings in Israel, the family court decided:
- The wife is entitled to a one-time compensation of 230,000 NIS for her unpaid domestic work and homemaking over 30 years
- She will also receive 100,000 NIS, representing her share in a transfer the husband made to their son without her consent
- The husband must continue paying mortgage and housing expenses (up to 1,000 NIS/month) for three more months
However, the judge rejected her request for rehabilitative alimony, stating that the financial compensation, property division, and shared assets were enough to support her economic transition.
📌 What This Means Under Israeli Divorce Law
This ruling reinforces a trend in Israeli divorce law: courts may recognize the value of unpaid domestic work, but rehabilitative alimony in Israel is still rarely awarded unless the spouse proves a clear path to self-sufficiency is unavailable.
The judgment also shows how marital property in Israel — including funds transferred without consent — can be reviewed even when traditional abuse claims are dismissed.
Legal Insight: Why I Urge Clients to Consider Alimony in Prenups
As a divorce lawyer in Israel, I often see cases like this — where one spouse walks away with a flourishing career, and the other has to rebuild late in life.
While I personally found the court’s decision harsh, it was legally sound under current Israeli family law. That’s why I strongly recommend including alimony clauses in prenuptial agreements, especially when one spouse plans to leave the workforce or take on the primary caregiving role. Read more in my free ebook on prenups: Ebook Prenup – Jay Hait-Hait Family Law
