What is important to know about matrimonial financial agreements?

The Matrimonial Property Act allows spouses to enter into an agreement that will establish various legal provisions pertaining to the marital life and case of separation between the spouses. A prenuptial agreement can be made before the wedding, and also during the marriage, but in practice most prenuptial agreements in Israel are made only when the couple decides to divorce, and they regulate the division of property in the agreement. It is common to call these agreements "divorce agreements."

According to Adv. Moshe Bar Shilton, divorce agreements refer to the division of property accumulated during the marriage, and often also to the fate of property that was brought before the marriage and did not enter the joint property balance. Even when it comes to "external property", there may still be claims that the property should be divided in a divorce, and therefore often explicit agreements are made in financial agreements, and explicit provisions also apply to external assets.

In order for a financial agreement to be valid, it must be approved by a court or rabbinical court. However, there is a difference between a judgment regarding the division of property, and a prenuptial agreement which is a divorce agreement, and this is mainly about the ability to change it in the future: when it comes to an agreement, it is assumed between two equal and equal parties. Therefore, it will be more difficult to change a divorce agreement after it has been approved by a court, and a judgment given after adversarial litigation between the parties.