...
2) To determine that the balance of the value of the assets, in whole or in part, will not be half-for-half, but according to a different ratio to be determined taking into account, inter alia, future assets, including the earning capacity of each of the spouses."
- The broad discretion given to the court when it makes use of section 8 of the Property Relations Law, and the purposes of its use are also anchored in the Supreme Court's ruling in the tax appeal 7272/10 Anonymous vs. Anonymous, given on January 7, 2014 [published in the online databases], as follows:
"Section 8 stands as a bypass road that allows deviation from the main route in section 5 of the law. It presents discretionary authority to create a division of property between spouses that takes into account various considerations of justice and policy that have hitherto not been expressed... The discretion granted to the court in this section is intended to be used in special cases in which the general arrangement in the law is likely to lead to undesirable results and clear injustice (Rosen-Zvi, 352).
It has already been said by this court that section 8 allows the judicial courts great flexibility to make a fair balance of assets according to economic and other considerations (Yaakobi, 614). It should be emphasized that a fair balance, even if it is not equal. The clause serves as an opening for granting more than half the value of the property to the needy party, taking into account economic and other considerations (ibid., ibid.). The choice of the non-median division of assets by virtue of section 8(2) of the Law is intended to prevent an unequal and unjust result and to allow substantial equality of opportunity for the "weak" spouse (High Court of Justice 2533/11 Anonymous v. The Great Rabbinical Court, [published in Nevo] Opinion of Justice Y. Amit (October 26, 2011)). The approach was presented according to which the distribution arrangement should focus not necessarily on equal distribution; Rather, it is a division that will provide each of the spouses with equal opportunities in life after separation, so that each of them will be able to build his or her own future (S. Shochat, "The Rule of Partnership - Equal Division to Equality in Distribution," Shamgar 3 731, 739 (2003)). The purpose of section 8 is to enable the court to deviate from the arrangement in section 5 in order to uphold the guiding principles that underlie the arrangement - equality and autonomy - even in special cases. It seems that policy considerations support a half-by-half division of the couple's assets, not only to reflect equality, but also to promote it. However, it is possible that the granting of half of the value of the assets to each party will not lead to the achievement of the purposes of the law."