Property bought before marriage? Inherited or received as a gift?

Why?

Israel's Spousal Property Relations Law explicitly states that apartments inherited, received as a gift, or purchased before the marriage are not subject to division as part of the marital property at the time of divorce.

The law is meant to settle the matter cleanly. Right? Wrong.

More than once, the family court has ruled in its judgments that even these apartments will be divided between the spouses upon divorce.

When does this happen?

• When one spouse inherits an apartment and both spouses live in it.
• When one spouse buys an apartment before marriage but takes a mortgage together with the other spouse to finance the purchase.
• When an inherited apartment is rented out and the rental income flows into the joint account.
• When one spouse contributes a substantial amount toward renovating or improving the property the other spouse received as inheritance or gift.

In such cases, the court may rule that there was an "intent to share" (kavanat shituf) - i.e., the spouse acted in a way that signaled to the other party that the apartment belongs to both.

At divorce, the other spouse will be entitled to a share of that apartment.

What does that mean in practice?

The spouse who contributed money to renovations, paid part of the mortgage, lived in the apartment, or benefited from its rental income can argue that they assumed the apartment was theirs as well - otherwise, why would they have invested?

The solution?

A spousal financial-relations agreement - before marriage or after.

An agreement that explicitly states which assets carry an intent to share and which do not.

An agreement that says clearly: even when both partners enjoy the rental income, share the mortgage, contribute to renovations, or live in the apartment - unless something else is explicitly stated, there is no intent to share, and at divorce (hopefully never) the apartment will not be divided between the spouses.

Get past the awkwardness. Settle these matters in a proper financial-relations agreement.