Recent case highlights conflict between religious and civil aspects of marriage and divorce
The definition of marriage has been a hot-button topic for many years. Who has the right to define marriage, God or man? The church or the state? The answer, at least for now, is both. While pastors, priests, rabbis, and other religious figures may seal a union before God, the state is the party granting legal rights and privileges to married couples. The state can also dissolve marriages through divorce or annulment. Unfortunately, for members of some faiths the disconnect between the religious and the civil aspects of marriage and divorce creates significant hardships.
Take the case of Meir Kin and his former wife, Lonna Kin. The Orthodox Jewish couple divorced legally in 2007, but as Mr. Kin has still not given his wife a “get” (a religious divorce document), under Jewish law they are still married.
By the terms of her faith, Ms. Kin is forbidden to remarry. However, Mr. Kin found a loophole that has allowed him to take new wife without giving his former wife the “get,” namely getting the approval of 100 rabbis. However, many members of the Orthodox Jewish community are skeptical as to whether Mr. Kin really has the support of 100 respected rabbis. The particular rabbinical court that allegedly gave him the dispensation to remarry has been denounced by religious authorities in both the US and Israel. In the eyes of most of the religious community, and in the eyes of his former wife, Mr. Kin is now a bigamist, though in the eyes of the civil authorities he has done nothing wrong.
Mr. Kin has repeatedly attempted to convince his former wife to give him $500,000 and full custody of their 12-year-old son in exchange for the “get.” This would of course be a separate agreement from whatever arrangements have already been made pursuant to their civil divorce, which apparently awarded child custody to Ms. Kin.
Unfortunately, in such cases there is little that a divorce attorney can do to assist with the resolution of the religious issue, especially once the divorce decree has been finalized. As a professional that deals with civil law, an attorney must treat all couples of all faiths equally and assist them to secure a legal divorce, regardless of whether the divorce may be considered “right” from a faith-based perspective.
One possible take away from this story is the fact that it is extremely important to look far into the future when drafting agreements to be incorporated into a divorce decree. Although the various agreements regarding child custody, child support, alimony, etc. may be modified in the future, it is preferable to avoid the trip back to court for a modification by building provisions for all possible eventualities into the original decree whenever possible.
