Court Requires Husband to Purchase a New Apartment for His Wife Instead of Transferring an Apartment in the Sharon Region

What the Agreement Stipulated

The couple were married for nine years and have three children. Under the 2014 prenuptial agreement, property registered in either spouse’s name belongs to that spouse in full. In the event of separation, the man, an entrepreneur and company owner, undertook to purchase an apartment for the woman for $1.15 million: half would be registered in her name and half in the children’s names. The woman was granted the right to live in the apartment for the rest of her life or rent it out to finance other housing.

The Dispute Over the Apartment in the Sharon Region

After the separation in 2023, the man offered to transfer to the woman an apartment he already owned in the Sharon region, which had served as security for his obligation. The Family Court initially permitted this option. However, Tel Aviv District Court Judges Einat Ravid, Naftali Shilo and Yehezkel Eliyahu ruled that the wording “undertakes to purchase” means a future purchase, not the transfer of an apartment purchased before the agreement was executed.

Why the Appeal Was Granted Only in Part

The court noted that the use of the apartment in the Sharon region as security indicates that the parties did not view it as the future home of the woman and the children. However, the demand that an apartment be purchased specifically in Tel Aviv was rejected because no such restriction appears in the agreement. The man may choose any location in Israel, provided that the apartment’s value is not lower than the stipulated amount.

The Amount and Interest

The value was calculated according to the dollar exchange rate at the time of the separation in 2023—3.66 shekels per dollar, amounting to approximately 4.2 million shekels. The court did not order indexation to rising real estate prices, but required the amount to accrue shekel-denominated interest from April 2023 until the purchase. At the time of publication, the interest was estimated at approximately 900,000 shekels, and the total amount at approximately 5.15 million shekels.

Additional Court Decisions

The court did not change the allocation of the children’s healthcare and education expenses: the man pays 60% and the woman 40%. The woman’s request to reverse the reduction of the man’s share following the decline in his income was denied. The woman was also ordered to pay the man 25,000 shekels in legal costs.

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