Kati Tal - Law Office & Mediation

Kati Tal, Law Office & Mediation is a boutique law firm specializing in family and inheritance law and providing legal services that match the unique skill set of the firm’s founder, Attorney Kati Tal. The firm represents its clients in family, rabbinic and appeals courts. The firm represents its clients in divorce disputes, including in matters related to parental responsibility, alimony, property divisionand divorce settlement. It also provides first-class legal services in mediation and negotiation procedures, including drafting pre-nuptial financial agreements, as well as divorce and separation agreements. The firm offers assistance, representation, and legal guidance to the high-tech industry, the elderly population, and the LGBT community while demonstrating the utmost empathy for their needs. The firm specializes in the unique characteristics of military forces personnel and their spouses, including the budgetary pension mechanism, the mediation pension for those entitled to the accumulated pension, early retirement, and the right to a survivor’s pension for spouses after the divorce. Using her extensive experience in legal proceedings, mediation and negotiations, as well as her personal and professional knowledge of this world, Attorney Tal delivers exceptional legal services tailored to the needs of the men and women in the military forces, as well as their spouses. In this context, the office accompanies and advises lawyers on the distribution of the budgetary pension in divorce proceedings.

Attorney Lt. Col. (Res.) Kati Tal, Founder

Attorney Kati Tal served in the Air Force at the rank of lieutenant colonel for 25 years, during which she held a variety of management and human resources positions, including as an executive squadron commander at the operational Air Force bases and as head of the service conditions and welfare department. During this time, she acquired a unique skill set, expertise, and understanding of IDF service conditions, welfare, and salaries. She established her own law practice in 2012. Attorney Tal’s distinctive advantage is in accompanying and representing women and members of the military forces - the IDF, the police, the prisons service, and the intelligence agencies in the Prime Minister’s Office - in divorce proceedings while having a deep knowledge of the pension system, which constitutes a valuable financial asset, sometimes the most valuable asset of the family unit. The office offers unique expertise in budgetary pensions, the contribution-based pension mechanism, and the mediation pension for women, military personnel, law enforcement and other civil servants. Attorney Tal is qualified to represent clients in collaborative divorce proceedings, she is a member of the “Haskamot” group and a graduate of the Alternative Conflict Resolution Course from Fordham University in New York. Attorney Tal’s personal and professional experience allows her to provide the firm’s clients with a comprehensive package of services that are tailored to each client’s specific needs.

Conceptual Framework

Generally, we prefer empathetic and respectful negotiation since avoiding legal confrontation and creating agreements is best. All of this is done professionally and creatively, with an individualized approach, close accompaniment and an attentive ear. Only after all other options have been exhausted can a legal process be initiated. For those who have already reached a legal proceeding - we believe in joint, creative thinking and planning a few steps ahead while maintaining maximum control over the process. Setting precedents is not something we shy away from!
The specialization in human resources in the Air Force, coupled with the life experience of Attorney Kati Tal, allows us to offer unique solutions in various fields.

Areas of Expertise

Representation in the Judicial Courts - Kati Tal, Law Office & Mediation deals with litigation and represents the clients in all the judicial courts related to family law - the family courts and the appeal courts, the regional rabbinical courts and the great rabbinical court.
Divorce Proceedings - The firm accompanies and represents its clients in the divorce proceedings at the Rabbinical Court while compassionately providing a supportive environment and maintaining assertiveness and professionalism, including the settlement of the divorce, domestic peace claims, Ketubah claims, claims for a specific clause, claims involving divorc and other unique halachic issues. The office also deals with divorce proceedings for non-Jewish couples.
Parental Responsibility and Alimony - The firm deals with all legal matters related to issues involving the parties’ children, with Attorney Tal looking out for the best interests of the client and the children. The firm handles many cases of parental alienation, complex cases that require significant involvement and support. The firm also deals with claims of child support.
Property Claims - As part of the divorce proceedings, the office deals with property division, which is sometimes the most complex issue within the divorce and separation proceedings. The firm has extensive experience in the distribution of property in various fields - private companies, start-up companies - options and shares, real estate assets, reputation and earnings gaps - and of course, the distribution of pensions and social rights.
Mediation - Attorney Kati Tal has extensive experience in family mediation, including mediation for the LGBT community. As part of the mediation process, Attorney Tal assists in finding creative, fair solutions, keeping the children’s and the parties best interests in mind at all times.
Prenaptuall and Divorce Agreements - The firm has extensive experience in representing clients in negotiations to create agreements, including pre-marital financial agreements and divorce agreements, joint parenting agreements, as well as agreements for the LGBT population, which include cohabitation agreements and handling parental rights cases.
Wills and Inheritances - In the field of wills and inheritances, the firm specializes in drafting wills in the presence of witnesses, mutual wills and handling objections to wills.
Guardianship and Lasting Power of Attorney - Another field of expertise of the firm is the field of guardianship and lasting power of attorney, which includes drawing up a continuous power of attorney, appointing a decision-maker, guardianship and declaration of incompetence.
Unique Service - Round Table - In complex cases, the firm offers a unique “round table” service, in which a certified rabbi, two family attorneys, an actuary, a commercial attorney who deals with start-up companies and valuation of companies, and a financial planner come together in order to formulate a precise and personal strategy for managing the divorce process from the beginning.

Prominent Precedents and Rulings

Among the prominent rulings of the office - a ruling from 2013, given by the Honorable Judge Tamar Snunit Porer, who, for the first time, gave validity to a ruling for a joint parenting agreement that includes alimony and custody for non-spouses. The office is credited with a precedent ruling given in the Rabbinical Court, which established for the first time that a divorced retiree on a budgetary pension is entitled to perform tax planning and report the pension as a second salary for tax purposes, thereby increasing his monthly income by several hundred NIS. This ruling is a precedent because, currently, there is no precedent of this type in the family courts. In another ruling, at the firm’s request, the court appointed a grandmother as a third guardian for the child, contrary to the state’s position.
Additionally, in a sad case of parental alienation, Honorable Judge Maman cancelled the housing arrangements of three girls who were in joint custody between their parents due to the fact that the father and second wife stirred up the girls against their mother and transferred them to a care center under supervision in order to stop the hostile behavior.