NAME OF BEIT DIN (how commonly referred to):
ROSH BEIT DIN:
ADDRESS:
INTERVIEWER:
INTERVIEWEE:

CONTACTING THE BEIT DIN

1. How is the existence of the beit din made known? Web site, shul listing, advertisement, etc.?
2. Does the beit din have regular hours that are made known to the public?
3. How can a person contact the beit din? Phone? Fax? Online? By letter?
4. How long does it take the beit din to respond to a request for a first meeting?
5. Who answers the beit din's phone? Rabbi? Secretary? Answering machine?

CHARACTER OF THE BEIT DIN

6. Is the beit din an independent institution or is it affiliated with a synagogue or an organization? If so, which one?
7. About how many cases does the beit din handle each year? What percentage of these are uncontested/procedural, and how many are contested/difficult cases? How many remain unresolved each year?
8. Does the beit din advise women to bring a friend or relative? Is she allowed into the proceedings with the divorcing woman or must she wait outside? If the woman does not come with a friend, does the beit din have a woman available to fill this role?
9.Do the rabbis consider all information received from litigants to be strictly confidential, not to be shared with the other spouse or with anyone else, no matter the nature of the information (unless criminal)?
10. What language is used in the beit din? Are all documents translated into the language the litigants understand? Are translators found for other languages?

PROCEDURES

11. Does the beit din insist that the parties sign a shtar berurin?
12. Is the wife permitted to ask questions and to speak to the rabbis? Does she have the same access and opportunities as the husband?
13. Does the beit din follow appropriate halakhic procedures, issuing hazmaot and seruvim on schedule, or must the spouses call and ask for follow up before action is taken?
14. What is the beit din's schedule? How long before the first hazmanah is issued? The second? The third?
15. Does the beit din issue seruvim? How long after the third hazmanah does a seruv follow?
16. Can a husband stop the process from continuing if he calls and says he will grant a Get after the civil divorce is finalized? Does the beit din permit the withholding of a Get until after the civil divorce, thereby allowing the Get to be used for further concessions, or does it go ahead with the process regardless?
17. Does the beit din sometimes suggest that a Get be written and held? in escrow? until the civil divorce is finalized? If so, is there a time limit set before the Get is given or can it be held in escrow indefinitely, if the civil divorce drags on for years? Alternatively, does the beit din encourage the writing and releasing of the Get as soon as it is clear reconciliation is not possible, before other matters of the divorce settlement are finalized, and only withhold the pturim until the civil divorce is final?
18. Are both litigants informed of all developments within 2 weeks?
19. When a seruv is issued, does the beit din inform the community rabbi?
20. Does the beit din permit toanim?
21. Does the beit din recognize pre-nuptial agreements? Do the rabbis routinely inquire if such exist?
22. Does the beit din try to have the wife collect her ketubbah money, or is she asked to waive it? What monetary value does the beit din place on the ketubbah money?

RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LEGAL BODIES

23 Is the beit din recognized by the Israeli rabbanut?
24. Does the beit din permit and/or expect and advise the parties to go to civil court to resolve some issues, such as custody, visitation, division of assets, and if so does it opinion differ between these different issues? Or does the beit din prohibit the parties to turn to civil court? If the beit din itself deals with custody, does it consult with social workers, psychologists, etc.? If the beit din deals with the financial settlement what guidelines do they use to make their determination?
25. Does the beit din permit the parties' attorneys to attend hearings and to communicate with the rabbis?

RECORD KEEPING AND PRESERVATION

26. Where and how are beit din records and files kept? Are they computerized?
27. Are beit din deliberations and decisions written down? If not, why not? If yes, where are they stored? Who has access to them?
28. If a person needs to track down records of a Get received years earlier, is the information easily obtainable?

DAYYANIM

29. What are the names of all the dayyanim on the beit din?
30. How are the dayyanim selected or appointed? Do they receive a salary and, if so, from whom? Or do the litigants pay them directly?
31. What secular educational standards does the beit din require when appointing dayyanim? What other criteria does the beit din use when appointing dayyanim?
32. Do the dayyanim excuse themselves if they are personally acquainted with one of the spouses or with members of their family? If not, do they inform the other spouse of their relationship?

FEES

33. Does the beit din have regular fees? What are they? (Hourly fees or set fees for the whole case?) Does it have a payment schedule? Are all fees made known to the parties before they begin the proceedings?
34. Under what circumstances are fees changed?
35. Who pays the fees? Are they shared equally?
36. How does the beit din handle cases where spouses, or one spouse, cannot (or will not) pay the fees?

NOTE:

It is important to note the physical set up of the beit din. Is it in a house, a shul, does it have a space set apart for it? Is there office furniture? Does it seem like a dignified space? Please write down your general impressions. (Note if the rabbi looked directly at women when speaking to one.)

This guidebook is not intended to replace consultation with a rabbi or an attorney, nor is it intended to give legal or halakhic advice.

JOFA does not assume any responsibility for actions taken by any person as a result of information in this Guidebook.

The inclusion of a beit din in the Comparison Grid does not constitute and should not be viewed as an endorsement by JOFA.