How is local jurisdiction determined in the Family Court?
The relevant regulation of the Civil Procedure Regulations states that the common place of residence of the spouses will determine which court the claim will be filed with. If the couple does not live together at the time the claim is filed, their last common place of residence is the determining factor. It is necessary to check in which district the parties' last place of residence is located - and file the claim with the court in that district.
I would point out that the courts of the same district have the same authority to hear the same case.
For example, let's say the couple lives in Holon, then they are associated with the Central District, and therefore both the Family Court in Petah Tikva and the Family Court in Rishon LeZion are authorized to hear the parties' case - and the plaintiff can choose one of them as he wishes. (To find out which district you are associated with, you can use the Courts Information Center, which has the number 0772703333).
If the spouses did not live together at the time the lawsuit was filed, the lawsuit must be filed in the district where the plaintiff resides.
A claim that does not have an appropriate place of jurisdiction under this chapter will be filed with the competent court in Tel Aviv. This option may be relevant, for example, when we are dealing with spouses who live abroad, but have property in Israel and are facing divorce and want to divide said property.
According to the regulations, when a plaintiff files a lawsuit in family matters, he must address the issue of local jurisdiction by explicitly stating in the lawsuit that the court to which the lawsuit is filed has local jurisdiction to hear it, and also state how this jurisdiction was created (i.e., whether the parties live in the same district, whether they lived there in the past, and so on).
It should also be noted that to the extent that any of the parties has a claim regarding local jurisdiction, that is, that in his opinion another court is authorized to hear the parties' matter in light of their place of residence, he must raise this as a preliminary claim in the trial - that is, even before the hearing of the case begins.
If the plaintiff has moved and now lives in another district, he must file the lawsuit with the same court that originally heard the case, even if the hearing has ended.
If he did not do so, but opened a case in a new district, the new court is authorized to order the transfer of the case to the original court that heard the parties' case.
How is local jurisdiction determined in the Rabbinical Court?
There are 12 courts throughout the country, each with its own jurisdiction. Before filing a lawsuit, you should check to which jurisdiction the couple belongs (you can check the identity of the relevant court on the Rabbinical Courts website, under the heading "Finding a Court". There is also a breakdown of the jurisdictions and cities they include in the Rabbinical Court Hearing Regulations).
The Rabbinical Court Regulations state, similarly to the Civil Procedure Regulations, that the local jurisdiction to hear a claim between spouses in matrimonial matters is determined by the parties' last place of residence. It is necessary to check in which jurisdictional area the parties' last place of residence is located - and submit the claim to the court in that area.
According to the regulations, if a claim was filed that was not in accordance with the rules of local jurisdiction, but the plaintiff duly explained his reasons for doing so, the court may continue to hear the claim.
If one of the parties has moved outside the jurisdiction, and wants to file a request as part of the case that was handled in the original court, then there are 2 options:
1. If a claim was filed as a claim with a particular court, and the hearing resulted in the parties' divorce - that court is also authorized to hear other matters related to that claim.
2. If the parties have not divorced, and one of them wants to agree to a particular decision - the original court will have jurisdiction to consider changing that decision only if one of the spouses continues to live in the same jurisdiction. If both parties have left the jurisdiction (and the parties did not divorce) - the original court does not have local jurisdiction to consider changing its decisions.
Nothing in this article is intended to replace or substitute for individual legal advice. Reliance on the information is the sole responsibility of the user.
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