Forum Questions - Access


My 'ex' lives outside of Israel with the children. I have remained in Israel. She refuses to bring them to Israel for visitation, according to our divorce agreement. What can I do?

The best option for you is to file for the enforcement of visitation rights under the divorce agreement in the country where the children live. Even if the other country is bound by the Hague Convention like Israel, this Convention is of very limited use in enforcing visitation rights where there is no abduction involved.

I have visitation rights in Israel. My ex- wife, who has custody, has flown to the States with our children behind my back. Can I bring legal action for their return if she is the custodial parent and I only have access?

Certainly, as under Israeli law you remain joint legal guardian with the mother, even though you are divorced, and she has custody. The Hague Convention will apply. Where visitation rights are infringed because of child abduction, the Convention is very effective in securing the children's return.

Is there an obligation upon a mother who has custody to make sure that her child visits her father in Canada, where he lives ? How can the mother be sure that the father will honour his promises and return the child to Israel at the end of the planned visit ?

If the judgment awarding the mother custody does not deal with the issue of the father's access, then the mother is not under a legal obligation to make sure that visitation takes place. The right to actualize visitation lies in the father's hands, not the mother's. However, as Israeli law regards it being in the child's welfare to meet her father even if he lives abroad, it is preferably to try and reach agreement with the father regarding access in Canada, as well as in Israel. Ideally this can be done via negotiation without the father having to file for access (visitation) in the Israeli family court. However, should no agreement be reached, he will have no option other than to file for access. The door will still be open to reaching agreement , even after proceedings have commenced, and , failing this, the court will decide on the matter.

Regarding guaranteeing the child's return, the court has discretion on the matter. The custodial parent has no automatic right to financial guarantees.

I am a divorced father living outside of Israel. My divorce agreement abroad did not deal with my access in Israel. My 'ex' won't agree to our child visiting me abroad and when I fly to Israel to see my son, she puts brakes on. She makes excuses to cancel or reduce the times we fix for me to see our son and when I do get to see him she won't let me take her outside the apartment and barely lets us have any private time together, hovering in the open-plan living room all the time, and interrupting us. What can I do?

File for access both in Israel and overseas in a Family Court in Israel. Your 'ex' will have to file a defence. You can ask the court to appoint a social worker to make a report and recommendations on the issue. In general courts in Israel recognize the right and emotional importance of a child having a relationship with both parents, and initially is likely to make this clear to a custodial parent who displays hostility towards respecting this, even at a preliminary hearing.

I am the father of an Israeli child who is living in Israel in the custody of my ex-wife. She is brainwashing my son against me, just as she did with his elder sister, who is now an adult, and is totally alienated from me. My 'ex' will barely give me time to see my child in Israel when I can afford to visit, and will not hear of him visiting me abroad. I fear he is being poisoned against me. What are my options?
The first option is to file for access or visitation rights in Israel, and ask for a social worker/welfare officer to be appointed by court to make a report and recommendations on the matter. This will involve an investigation of all the inter-relationships in the family, including the relationship of your eldest child with you and her mother, and how this affects the situation with your son. If the professional appointed considers that you are being denied access and this is causing irreparable harm to your son e.g. that he is suffering from Parental Alienation Syndrome, then he/she can initiate proceedings. He/she can ask the court to declare your son "a minor in need of protection” according to the Youth (Care & Supervision) Law of 1960. This is, however, a highly controversial move since if the court does make such a declaration then it can issue a care or supervision order which will transfer custody of the child to the welfare authorities . They can then decide where the child should live and what treatment he should get. Basically the idea behind this is to put the child in a neutral environment so that he can get the psychological counselling he needs to enable him to rebuild his relationship with the alienated parent.