Forcing a Divorce

Among the many requirements in order for a Jewish divorce to be valid is that the get, the bill of divorce, must be issued by the husband by his own free will. In the event, however, that the get is being given due to other considerations, particularly physical threats and coercion, the divorce is often invalid.[1] It is not completely clear, however, exactly which measures are considered to be "coercion" which would invalidate the divorce and which measures are deemed to merely be "incentives" which would not invalidate it.

For example, there is a recorded case of a woman who turned to the secular court system for assistance in obtaining a Jewish divorce from her husband. The court, in a show of solidarity for the suffering that the woman was going through, ordered the husband to pay a hefty fine to compensate her for her distress. At the same time, however, the court offered the husband the opportunity to forgo having to pay the fine if he would simply agree to issue his wife a divorce consistent with Torah law.

A number of authorities rule that such a get would be valid based on the fact that the court was not actually requiring the husband to give his wife a get. The husband was perfectly entitled to pay the fine rather than to comply with the court's request to give his wife a get. According to this approach, this manner of intervention by a secular court is not considered to be a form of coercion which would invalidate the get, but rather, it is merely considered to be an incentive, which would have no effect on the legitimacy of the get.

Other authorities, however, rule that a get issued under such circumstances is completely invalid. They argue that, although the secular court was indeed not truly forcing the husband to give his wife a get, giving a get even for the sole purpose of evading the court-imposed fine is an indication that it is not an initiative of his own free will. According to this approach, a husband who resolves to give his wife a get based on any external considerations, no matter how insignificant, renders the get invalid.

In fact, in an attempt to ease the plight of Jewish women whose husbands refuse to grant them a get, there are a growing number of countries whose federal divorce laws actually require a Jewish couple to divorce according to Jewish law in addition to obtaining a civil divorce. Notwithstanding the good intentions behind such legislation, there is widespread consensus among halachic authorities that a get issued under these circumstances is considered to be a case of a get issued under coercion which renders it invalid. Others disagree. One must always seek competent rabbinic guidance with regards to any divorce proceedings.

With a few minor amendments, however, these efforts can be made compatible with halacha. As long as the court is able to present its incentive to the husband in a manner which does not appear to be forcing him to issue his wife a get, the arrangement will often be halachically acceptable. For example, the courts can introduce a clause which renders a civil divorce contingent upon a Jewish one. A husband who then issues his wife a get under such circumstances cannot be said to have done so under coercion. Rather, the husband does so for his own interests, namely, his desire to be divorced according to civil law. A get given under such a considerations is valid according to most authorities.[2]

[1] Rambam, Hilchot Gerushin 2:20.

[2] Minchat Yitzchak 8:136-137.