Divorce with no children – important information

During the last few years one can see a rising tendency of couples approaching the Rabbinate intending to divorce and end their established relationship. While getting a divorce when having children is common and logical, numbers show that divorce without children is realistic for many of us. Below you will find useful information if you belong to this category.

Divorce without children – what are the situations?

As mentioned, ending an established relationship can happen in any stage of the relationship and many couple find themselves in divorce procedures without having children. Some of the common cases are:

• Recently married couples – it is not rare to find couples who married and after a short period of time decide to divorce, before having children together.
• Couples in a second relationship – couples who decided to marry after their first marriage ended and didn't want children (or additional children).
• Elderly couples – couples who married at an elderly age and do not have the ability or do not want to have children.
• Couples who couldn't have children – sometimes, the romantic relation will end due to inability to have children together.

Please note that when I mention divorce without children, I'm referring only to children brought in to the world together by the couple. There are cases where a couple decides to divorce and there are children form previous relationships, but they usually are not part of this legal procedure.

Divorce without children – what are you facing?

That fact that the couple has no children together does not mean they do not have obligations to each other. It is true that there are no aspects of visitation rights, child custody, child alimony etc. but the relationship still needs to be dismantled according to a number of criteria:

• Property – how the property accumulated by the couple be distributed. Property – i.e. real estate, vehicles, capital, debts, social rights etc.
• Wife alimony – divorce without children will not include, of course, hearings regarding child alimony but the wife is entitled to her alimony. The alimony is intended to provide for the wife from the moment of separation until the divorce itself. There are some case where the husband will be exempt of paying alimony, when the wife erns a higher salary than the husband.
• Any other subject – house utensils, gifts, who keeps the dog, etc.

A divorce without children can be held in the Rabbinic court of the family court, or, the couple can sign a divorce agreement by mediation, which is usually short and effective. The mediation option is usually the best way to go, aiding the couple in saving both time and costs.