Getting Divorced in Israel While Living in the USA
If you’re an Israeli citizen living in the United States and going through a divorce, you’ve probably discovered that the process doesn’t work the way it would back home in the US — or even the way most people assume it works in Israel. Israel doesn’t have a single, unified divorce system. Which authority handles your case, what paperwork you need, and whether your US divorce is even “enough” all depend on factors most people never think about until they’re in the middle of it.
Israel Doesn’t Have One Divorce System — It Has Several
Unlike the US, Israel does not run marriage and divorce through a single civil court. Personal status matters — marriage, divorce, and some inheritance issues — are handled according to each person’s religion.
For Jewish couples, the dissolution of the marriage itself is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Rabbinical Courts, under the Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction (Marriage and Divorce) Law, 1953. This applies to Israeli citizens and residents who are Jewish, whether they married in Israel or abroad, and whether the wedding was religious or civil.
Non-Jewish couples, or couples where at least one spouse isn’t recognized as Jewish under religious law, generally have their divorce (technically, a claim to nullify the marriage) handled by the civil Family Court instead.
Interfaith and mixed-status couples are usually routed to the Family Court as well, since the Rabbinical Courts only have jurisdiction where both spouses are Jewish.
For Jewish Couples: Two Tracks Running in Parallel
If you’re Jewish, your divorce in Israel actually involves two separate processes:
- The religious dissolution (the get) — handled exclusively by the Rabbinical Court. This is the document that ends the marriage under Jewish law. Without it, you remain married under Jewish law even if you’re divorced under civil law somewhere else.
- The financial and custodial matters — property division, spousal support, and child custody/support — which can be handled either in the Rabbinical Court or in the civil Family Court (established under the Family Courts Law, 1995), depending on which party files first. This is sometimes referred to informally as a “race to the courthouse,” because the venue that gets the financial and custody claims first often ends up deciding them, alongside — or ahead of — the get itself.
The Rabbinical Court doesn’t technically “dissolve” a marriage on its own authority the way a civil court does. Its role is to oversee and certify that a get was properly written, delivered by the husband, and accepted by the wife, in front of witnesses.
“I Already Have a US Divorce Decree — Isn’t That Enough?”
This is one of the most common points of confusion, and it’s worth being precise about.
In practice, most rabbinical courts and batei din (rabbinical tribunals) will want the civil divorce finalized first, and then proceed with the get. So the US divorce is usually a necessary step, but not a substitute for the get.
On the civil/administrative side, a US divorce decree is also not automatically recognized in Israel just because a court issued it — you generally need to formally notify the Israeli Population Registry (more on this below), and full civil “recognition” for certain purposes can, in some cases, require an additional process under the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Law, 1958.
Getting a Get Without Flying to Israel
A common misconception is that Jewish couples living abroad have to travel to Israel to complete a get. In most uncontested cases, that isn’t true.
A number of rabbinical courts (batei din) operating in the US — including large, established ones — are recognized by, or regularly coordinate with, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. A get arranged through a recognized beit din in the US can be valid in Israel, the same as one arranged in Israel itself. If a couple lives in different cities or even different countries, it’s also common practice for the beit din to arrange delivery of the get through an authorized agent (a shaliach), rather than requiring both spouses to be in the same room.
For an uncontested get — where both spouses are cooperating — the process itself is usually relatively fast and administratively simple. Costs vary by beit din and location, so it’s worth asking directly for current fees rather than relying on figures you find online.
Where things get significantly more complicated is when one spouse refuses to participate or refuses to give/accept the get — a situation that can leave the other spouse “chained” (an agunah or, less commonly, a male equivalent) and unable to remarry within Jewish law. This is a genuinely difficult legal and religious situation, and it needs a licensed attorney and/or rabbinical advocate involved directly — it isn’t something to try to resolve informally.
When Israeli Rabbinical Courts Can Get Involved Even If You Live Abroad
Israeli law has, in recent years, expanded the ability of Israeli Rabbinical Courts to intervene in get-refusal cases involving people living outside Israel. Under a 2021 amendment to the Rabbinical Courts Jurisdiction Law (currently in effect on a temporary basis through June 30, 2027), Israeli rabbinical courts can take jurisdiction over a get case involving a Jewish woman abroad in certain specific circumstances — for example, if there’s no functioning rabbinical court near either spouse, or if a foreign beit din ordered the husband to give the get and he didn’t comply within a set period.
Under this framework, Israeli courts can also impose real consequences on a husband who refuses to cooperate — including, if he enters Israel, restrictions on leaving the country or even detention, in certain get-refusal cases. This is a meaningful tool for people in an agunah situation, but it’s a specialized, contested-litigation scenario that requires a lawyer or to’en rabani experienced in this exact area — not something to navigate based on a blog post.
Registering Your Divorce With Israeli Authorities While Living in the US
Israeli citizens are legally required to notify the Population Registry (part of the Ministry of Interior / Population and Immigration Authority) of a change in personal status, including divorce. If you live in the US, you don’t need to fly to Israel to do this — it can generally be handled through the Consular Department of your nearest Israeli embassy or consulate.
Typically, this involves submitting:
- An apostilled copy of your final divorce decree (apostille is the international authentication stamp that lets a US document be recognized in Israel, since both countries are party to the Hague Apostille Convention);
- A certified translation into Hebrew or English if the decree isn’t already in one of those languages;
- A copy of the relevant identification pages of your passport(s).
It’s important to understand the limits of this step: registering your divorce with the Population Registry updates your official record for administrative purposes. It is not, by itself, the same as a court formally “recognizing” the foreign divorce for every legal purpose in Israel (for example, remarrying in Israel or resolving property claims tied to Israeli assets). Depending on your situation, that may require a separate step through the courts.
Property, Custody, and Support Across Two Countries
If you and your spouse have assets, children, or ongoing support obligations connected to both Israel and the US, jurisdiction questions can get complicated quickly — which country’s court actually has authority to decide property division or custody can depend on where each spouse is legally domiciled, where the children habitually live, and where the marriage or divorce filing happened first. International child custody disputes can also intersect with the Hague Convention on child abduction. These are exactly the kind of questions that need a licensed attorney (potentially one in each country) rather than general guidance — the details of your specific facts matter enormously here.
How Long Does This Take, and What Does It Cost?
There’s no single answer — an uncontested get between cooperating spouses, plus registering the divorce with the Population Registry, can often be completed in weeks. A contested case, a get-refusal situation, or a cross-border custody or property dispute can take considerably longer and involve real legal costs. Anyone quoting you a fixed timeline or price without knowing the details of your case is guessing.
How We Can Help — and What We Don’t Do
Assist Israel is an administrative concierge and consulting service, not a law firm, and we don’t provide legal advice or legal representation. What we do help clients with in divorce-related cases:
- Explaining, in plain English, how the process generally works and what to expect at each stage;
- Helping gather, apostille, and translate the documents Israeli authorities require;
- Scheduling and preparing you for consular appointments to register your change of marital status with the Population Registry;
- Coordinating logistics with your beit din, the consulate, or Israeli government offices on your behalf so you’re not stuck figuring out Hebrew-language bureaucracy from another time zone;
- Referring you to licensed Israeli family law attorneys and rabbinical court advocates when your situation calls for legal representation — including contested cases, get refusal, and cross-border custody or property disputes.
We do not appear on your behalf in Rabbinical Court, Family Court, or before a beit din, we don’t draft legal filings, and we don’t advise on the legal strategy or outcome of your specific case. For anything that touches on legal rights, obligations, or representation, we’ll point you to a qualified attorney or to’en rabani — and we’re glad to help you find one who works with English-speaking clients abroad.
This article reflects general information as of the time of writing. Israeli family law, including rules around rabbinical court jurisdiction for people living abroad, has changed in recent years and may change again. Always confirm current requirements with a licensed Israeli attorney, a rabbinical court advocate, or the relevant Israeli consulate before making decisions based on this information.
