Israeli Court Grants Inheritance Rights to Enforce $133,000 Child Support Debt

An Israeli family court judge in Haifa devised a unique legal solution to help a woman collect approximately 133,000 shekels in unpaid child support from her ex-husband, who left Israel in February 2024 and cut off all contact with her, their children, and his only remaining close relative, his uncle. Judge Liron Zerbal-Kadshai assigned ownership of a 17.3-square-meter office space, inherited by the man from his grandmother, solely to him. This registration enables the woman to initiate enforcement proceedings against the property to recover the debt.

The child support obligation stems from a 2018 court ruling requiring the father to pay for two children. Despite opening an enforcement file, the mother faced obstacles because the inherited property was not clearly allocated to the ex-husband due to ambiguous wording in the grandmother's will. The will divided two adjacent office rooms between the son and grandson but did not specify which room belonged to whom. The court ruled to divide the offices between the two heirs, assigning the larger office to the ex-husband to prevent asset concealment.

The ex-husband’s uncle, the other heir, agreed to take the smaller office, resolving the dispute. The court also authorized alternative service of process, including publication in foreign newspapers and WhatsApp messages, after the ex-husband’s location became unknown. The judge emphasized that the ruling does not grant the mother direct rights to the property but allows her to pursue legal steps to liquidate it and recover the owed child support.

The court rejected the mother’s request to classify the property transfer as an inheritance event for tax purposes, leaving tax authority decisions intact. The ex-husband was ordered to pay the mother’s legal costs of 5,000 shekels within 30 days, adding to the outstanding child support debt. The case was closed after the court canceled a scheduled hearing on October 27, 2026.