Beyond the child support obligations that arise in divorce proceedings, there are cases in which the husband must also pay wife’s alimony (spousal support), especially where the wife was financially dependent on him during the marriage.
What is the legal source of the obligation to pay wife’s alimony?
Section 2(a) of the Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) Law, 5719-1959 provides that “a person is liable for the maintenance of his spouse in accordance with the provisions of the personal law that applies to him.”
In other words, every husband owes his wife alimony according to the law of his religious community. For Jewish couples who married through the Rabbinate according to the Law of Moses and Israel and have entered divorce proceedings, the husband’s obligation to pay wife’s alimony is governed by Jewish law.
Jewish law obligates the husband to support his wife during the marriage and for as long as they remain married, that is, until the get (Jewish divorce) is granted, except in certain cases, detailed below, in which the husband is exempt.
When a Jewish couple enters divorce proceedings, then, the husband must pay spousal support during the proceedings, until the divorce is granted.
If the wife refuses to accept the get, she remains entitled to alimony until the date of a ruling requiring the parties to divorce. If the husband is the one refusing to grant the get, he can be ordered to pay alimony even where the wife would not otherwise be entitled to it, as a means of pressuring him to grant the divorce. This payment is called “mezonot me’ukevet,” alimony for a wife “delayed from remarrying because of him,” since the husband’s refusal to grant the get prevents her from marrying anyone else.
What happens once the get or divorce judgment is granted?
Under Jewish law, once the get or divorce judgment is granted, the husband no longer owes his wife alimony. However, if the parties signed a financial agreement or divorce agreement that provides otherwise, for instance that the husband will pay the wife alimony for a set period after the divorce, or even for life, the obligation continues by virtue of his contractual undertaking in those agreements.
Spousal support where the couple did not marry according to Halacha
For couples who did not marry according to Halacha, such as couples married in a civil ceremony or common-law partners who never married at all, an obligation to pay spousal support will apply where the parties signed a marriage contract, divorce agreement, or financial agreement in which the husband expressly undertook to pay the wife alimony after their separation.
The case law goes further: there are situations in which the husband must pay alimony even without an express undertaking in an agreement between the parties. First, where an implied agreement can be inferred, that is, an agreement under which the husband in effect undertook to pay alimony through the parties’ conduct. Second, where the wife was completely financially dependent on the man for most of the years of their life together. This kind of alimony is called “rehabilitative alimony,” because its purpose is to help the woman get back on her feet after the separation, until she can start working and earn a living.
For mixed or non-religious couples, entitlement to spousal support is determined under the Family Law Amendment (Maintenance) Law, 5719-1959.
To read another article about how child custody is determined >>
When is the husband exempt from paying alimony under Jewish law?
As a general rule, Jewish law requires the husband to pay his wife alimony for as long as they are married, until the divorce judgment or get is issued.
There are, however, cases in which the law exempts the husband from paying alimony, as explained below.
Alimony for a woman who works and earns a living
Where the wife works and her earnings are enough to cover all her needs, the husband is exempt from paying alimony, under the rule that “her earnings stand in place of her maintenance.” If the wife’s salary does not cover all her needs, the husband must pay alimony, but only in the amount needed to make up the difference and no more.
The obligation to pay wife’s alimony therefore applies mainly where the woman did not work or earn any income during the marriage, leaving her completely financially dependent on her husband, and potentially without any financial means after separating from him. Alimony is meant to spare a woman who has separated from her husband a financial crisis on top of the marital one.
The obligation also applies to a woman who is able to work but chooses not to, even after the separation. Under Jewish law a wife is not required to go out to work and earn a living, and the husband cannot demand that she do so in order to relieve himself of the duty to support her.
A woman who has lost her right to alimony
Wife’s alimony under Halacha rests on the marriage bond between the parties. The husband is therefore exempt where the wife does not fulfill her duties as a married woman under Halacha. This mainly means a wife who has been unfaithful, a “rebellious” wife (one who refuses marital relations without justification), or a wife who has left the home and no longer lives with her husband without a justified reason (a justified reason being, for example, an abusive husband). If the husband is the one who left the home, he is not exempt from paying his wife’s maintenance.
On the other hand, and as noted above, a husband who refuses to grant the get without justification can be ordered to pay “delayed-wife alimony” even where the wife is not otherwise entitled to it, in order to pressure him into granting the divorce.
How do you file a claim for spousal support?
A woman seeking spousal support must file a claim with the Rabbinical Court or the Family Court.
A request for temporary spousal support can be filed at the same time, covering the interim period from the filing of the main claim until the ruling is issued. Spousal support cannot be claimed retroactively, that is, for the period before the claim was filed.
The claim must include a statement of claim, an affidavit verifying the facts alleged in it, evidence supporting those facts (receipts for household maintenance and personal expenses), and a statement of assets in which the wife lists all her assets. A salaried woman must also attach her last 12 pay slips, while a self-employed woman must attach an income statement.
How is the amount of wife’s alimony determined in Israel?
The amount of wife’s alimony is set according to the halachic rule that a wife “rises with him and does not go down.” This rule means the alimony must allow her to keep the standard of living she enjoyed during the marriage, even if that standard was higher than the one she had before the marriage.
To set the amount, the court considers the husband’s income, the wife’s income (not only her salary but income from any source, such as National Insurance payments, rent, and so on), and the wife’s expenses (food, clothing and footwear, cleaning and home maintenance, car expenses, and even makeup and cosmetics).
Where the wife could go out to work but chooses not to, her earning capacity is not taken into account except in exceptional cases, since, as noted, the law does not obligate her to work, and she is entitled to alimony even if she chooses to stay at home. The exceptional cases are a very short marriage, or a wife who worked until the divorce but resigned once proceedings began, or cut back her hours, just to receive alimony.
* Updated for 2026
