Beersheba Family Court Rejects Claim to Ex-Partner’s Longstanding Company

The Beersheba Family Court has rejected a woman’s bid for rights in a company her former common-law partner founded decades before their relationship began. Judge Diana Pesso-Wagao ruled that she failed to prove a specific intent to share ownership in the business, which she described as a “clear external asset.”

The couple had each been married to others for many years before beginning a second-stage relationship in 2013 as common-law partners. They separated in 2023, and in May 2024 the woman filed a property claim through attorney Ilan Aviram. She sought a share mainly in the company the man founded in 1982, more than 30 years before their relationship started.

To support her claim, she said the long relationship, her work in the company handling its “administrative aspect,” and his assurances that “by the end of your days you can believe you will be financially secure” showed an intention to share. The man, represented by attorney Shason Yitzhak of Gideon Panner, said she had no real role in the company, which he said he built “with his own ten fingers.” He argued there was no intent to share property, especially since they were older, had children and grandchildren, and chose not to marry.

The judge accepted his position, saying the evidence showed the company was the couple’s main source of income, but it had been created and grown long before the relationship. That, she said, placed a particularly heavy burden on the woman to prove co-ownership of a “clear external asset.” The court also rejected her argument that working in the company gave her rights, noting she worked full time elsewhere and only helped him when needed. The judge found no proof she gave up her own career to improve the business, and said his promises of financial security did not establish sharing in the company. Her own choice not to share her apartment with him also supported the conclusion that there was no intent to share the business. The claim was dismissed in full, and she was ordered to pay 30,000 shekels in legal costs and attorney’s fees.