Just before you take apart the family unit, it is worth knowing where you stand: divorce and men’s rights go together. In the divorce process, men’s rights center on three main issues: child support payments, the division of property, and child custody. To secure everything you are entitled to as a man in a divorce, it is wise to consult a family law lawyer, whether in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, or anywhere else, as long as the lawyer is skilled, experienced, and knows how to protect a man’s rights in the divorce process.

In this article we take up divorce and men’s rights and learn what a man is entitled to during a divorce.

Divorce Men’s Rights 2026

Statistics show that divorce has been on the rise in recent years, yet many men still do not know what they are entitled to in the process. Many assume men have almost no rights in divorce. That is simply not the case.

Divorce Men’s Rights in Child Custody

Two concepts matter in any discussion of child custody: sole custody and joint custody.

Sole custody means one parent carries the day-to-day upbringing of the children, and the children live with that parent.

Joint custody means both parents are full partners in raising and caring for the children, and the children’s time is divided equally between them.

The tender years presumption holds that children up to the age of six remain in the mother’s custody after divorce, except in three cases:

When the mother agrees to give up custody, so that the father receives sole custody.

Parental unfitness, when the father proves that the mother is unfit to raise the children, for example due to mental illness or drug use and addiction.

When the father and mother agree on joint custody.

When the children are in the mother’s sole custody, the father is entitled to visitation. Visitation is an arrangement between the father and the mother under which the father spends set time with the children. If the mother violates the visitation arrangements, the father can turn to the welfare officer or the police to enforce them.

Divorce Men’s Rights in Child Support Payments

When the mother has full custody of the children, the duty to pay child support falls on the father until the children turn eighteen. Even while a child serves in the army or national service, the father still contributes to that child’s support, at a reduced rate.

Where the parents have decided on joint custody, child support is divided between the father and the mother according to each parent’s financial capacity. This is the rule that governs men’s rights in divorce in 2026, following a precedent-setting Supreme Court ruling issued in 2017.

Divorce: Men’s rights in the division of property

In recent years many couples draw up a financial agreement that settles, among other things, how the joint property will be divided between them after a divorce.

If you signed a financial agreement before the wedding or even after it, the division of property in divorce will follow what the agreement says. If you did not sign a financial agreement, the property will be divided equally between the spouses in accordance with the law.

It is worth knowing that the equal division of property does not stop at the property the spouses accumulated during the marriage. It can also reach property one spouse accumulated before the marriage, provided it can be proven that there was an intention to share those assets.

An intention to share arises, among other cases, when the spouses lived together before the marriage in an apartment registered in the name of one of them, or when the apartment was rented to a third party and the couple split the rent for joint expenses, and so on.

 To make the most of a man’s rights in divorce and prove an intention to share assets, it is important to consult a lawyer who specializes in divorce.

 Divorce Men’s Rights in Decision Making

Even when the mother has been granted full custody, she cannot make significant decisions about the children on her own. Under the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law, the father always remains a full partner in decisions concerning the children: their education, their upbringing, medical decisions, and more.

To sum up men’s rights in divorce, here is a short table detailing those rights:

Divorce Men’s Rights                 Explanation
Division of property If you signed a financial agreement, the property is divided according to the agreement; if you did not, the property is divided equally.

 
Child support payments When the mother receives full custody, the father must pay child support. In joint custody, support is divided according to each parent’s financial capacity.

 
Child custody Joint custody has become the most common arrangement in recent years. When the mother receives full custody, the father is entitled to visitation.

 
Decision making Every decision about raising and caring for the children must be made by agreement between the parents.

 

 

Divorce and men’s rights – know your rights!

Before you begin the divorce process, know what a man’s rights are. Men’s rights in divorce come down to three main parameters: child support payments, the division of property, and child custody.