Get it? Got it? Good!

Confused about what you need to do to legally and religiously divorce?  Make sure you take some legal advice as the consequences of not divorcing properly can be catastrophic. You don’t want to end up re-marrying before you are divorced and thus be committing an offence in this country!

If you were married in a Jewish ceremony in the UK, you will also need a civil marriage to be validly married in the UK.  Likewise, when a Jewish marriage breaks down a civil divorce must be obtained in the English courts as well as a religious divorce obtained through the Beth Din, the Jewish religious court. This is known as a Get.

Under Jewish law, a wife must get a Get from her husband and she must formally agree to get the Get to effect the Jewish divorce. Should either party refuse to give or get the Get, then the couple remain chained to the marriage and are prevented from re-marriage within the Jewish community.

If your husband is preventing you from getting the Get, then you can apply to the Beth Din to require him to grant you the get.  The English courts also have the power to prevent decree absolute being given until the marriage has been dissolved under Jewish law.  It is important therefore to make sure your lawyer dealing with your divorce in the civil courts, is aware of any religious marriage.

If you do not have a lawyer and require advice about your civil divorce or religious divorce then please contact Stephanie at stephanie@kleymansolicitors.com or Louise at louise@kleymansolicitors.com

Kleyman & Co Solicitors- the full service law firm – helping you get going again.