Should Divorcees Keep in Contact?

Guidelines for Interaction between Former Spouses

The halachah is that once a woman receives her get (bill of divorce), the ex-spouses should refrain from meeting each other and from doing anything that would give the impression that they are associating with one another. Therefore, they should:

  • Live at a distance from each other
  • Avoid entering a partnership or joint business venture
  • Avoid appearing together in beis din (rabbinical court) in case of a din Torah (a dispute brought to a rabbinical court to adjudicate); instead, a mursheh (authorized representative) should appear instead of at least one of them
  • Never converse with one another, even when encountering one another bshuk (in the marketplace; i.e., in a public setting) where there are other people around.

Speaking on the phone about technical arrangements relating to the divorce or to the children isn’t strictly against halachah, but a yirei Shamayim (G-d fearing person) should avoid doing so, as well.

Visiting occasionally an ex-spouse’s home in order to pick something up is permitted, if necessary, provided that there are others present—which forestalls the issue of yichud (seclusion)—and that one spends only as much time there as necessary. There are some poskim who are stringent regarding this matter. #533?1 

 

https://halacha2go.com?number=533

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.