Post-Nuptial Agreement in Israel —
Signing After Marriage

What a Post-Nuptial Agreement Can — and Cannot — Change

A post-nuptial agreement can effectively exclude future assets from the shared marital estate. For example, an inheritance received after the agreement is signed, returns from a business established after that date, or real estate purchased with clearly separate funds can all be designated as the sole property of one spouse — provided both parties agree and the court approves the arrangement.

What a post-nuptial agreement generally cannot do, without both spouses' explicit and fully informed consent, is retroactively strip the other spouse of rights in assets already accumulated during the marriage. Under Israel's balancing-of-resources principle, each spouse has an existing vested interest in jointly accumulated assets. Courts will scrutinise any clause that purports to eliminate that interest after the fact.

Equally, a financial agreement — pre-nuptial or post-nuptial — cannot waive statutory rights that arise on divorce, such as alimony during the divorce proceedings themselves or child-support obligations. Courts will strike down clauses that contravene mandatory provisions of family law.

Because of these nuances, it is essential that both spouses receive independent legal advice before signing. Adv. Liron Elmaliach will explain precisely what the proposed agreement achieves, what it cannot achieve, and how to draft it in a way that will withstand judicial scrutiny.