My parents have divorced a civil divorce without a Get. They are now back together. Do they need to remarry?

 

My parents have divorced a few years ago. They are not observant, so dealing with it as a Jewish matter did not occur to them as being important so they just got a civil divorce. Fast forward a couple of years later – they are now back together and they said they don’t need to remarry because according to halacha they were never divorced. Is this true? Does that mean they are still married? What would the status be civilly?

 

Very good to hear!

According to Jewish law, a civil divorce does not affect a Jewish divorce. Thus a couple would still be considered married unless they executed their marriage with a kosher Gett performed by a Beis Din erudite in this field of Jewish divorce.

However it is worth investigating if your parent’s had a kosher marriage (done with two religious male witnesses and an Orthodox erudite Rabbi officiating the wedding) to begin with. It is also worth checking that the Kesubah was written kosher.

Regarding the civil law, if they were civilly divorced, they need to renew their civil marriage licence.

It is important to also add, that a wife may return to her husband provided that she in between the time of separation did not have marital relations with another man.

 

 

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