Best Inheritance law Lawyers

Control over what happens to your property after your death is a fundamental right, but it requires active action. In brief: Israeli law establishes a default mechanism for property distribution (intestate succession), which often does not match your personal wishes and may even create "forced partnerships" among family members. The only way to overcome this mechanism and determine yourself who gets what is through drafting a legal will. Proper planning with the accompaniment of an estate and wills attorney is not just a financial matter, but a primary tool for preventing family conflicts in the future.

Foundations of the Legal World of Wealth Transfer

When a person passes away, the entirety of their assets - real estate, bank funds, investments, vehicles, and even debts - become a single legal entity called an "estate." The big question hovering over the estate is "who does it belong to?" The answer to this question splits into two main paths you must know in depth: intestate succession (the state's default) and testate succession (your personal choice).

Your understanding of the differences between these two paths is critical. Many tend to postpone dealing with this topic out of natural psychological reluctance, but experience teaches that lack of planning is the number one cause of legal battles among heirs, causing family breakdowns and loss of significant money on legal expenses.

Intestate Succession: What Happens When You Don't Decide?

If you have not made a will, the state steps into your shoes and distributes the property according to the "Succession Law, 1965." The law's logic is social and based on blood relation, in a system called the "parentelic system" (circles of kinship). In the first circle are the spouse and children. In the common situation, the spouse receives half the property, and the children divide the other half equally.

On the face of it, this sounds fair. However, this system is blind to the nuances of your life. The law doesn't know if you have one child who needs more financial support due to a health condition, versus another child who is wealthy and established. The law doesn't know if you are in conflict with one of the children, or if you would prefer your spouse to receive the entire apartment to ensure them a roof over their head, with the children inheriting only after their death.

Moreover, intestate succession often creates a problematic situation of joint ownership in real estate. Imagine a situation where the widow holds 75% of the apartment (her half plus half of the inheritance), and the children hold the remaining 25%. If one of the children falls into debt, their creditors may impose a lien on their share in the apartment where the mother lives. To prevent such scenarios, consultation with an estate attorney is a necessary step that can save the family from unnecessary complications.

Testate Succession: The Power to Shape Reality

A will is the legal tool that allows you to "bypass" the inheritance law. The guiding principle in Israeli law is "it is a commandment to fulfill the words of the deceased." As long as the will's instructions are legal, moral, and possible to execute, the court will honor them above any other legal provision.

With the help of a wills attorney, you can determine a completely different distribution: bequeath specific assets to certain people (for example: the apartment to child A, the investment portfolio to child B), set conditions for receiving the inheritance (for example: receiving funds only after age 25 or after acquiring education), and even establish trusts for grandchildren or charitable purposes. This is your place to express your values and specific concern for each family member.

The Four Types of Wills Recognized by Law

For your will to be valid, it must meet strict formal requirements. Israeli law recognizes four ways to make a will, each with advantages and disadvantages you should know:

1. Witnessed Will: This is the most common and recommended form. The document is printed, bears a date, and is signed by the testator before two competent adult witnesses who do not benefit from the will. The witnesses confirm by their signature that the testator declared before them that this is their will. Accompaniment by a wills attorney in this process is critical to ensure the witnesses are competent and that the will's wording is not ambiguous.
2. Holographic Will: A person can write their will themselves. The essential condition is that the entire document, from beginning to end, be in the testator's handwriting (printing is forbidden), including signature and date. Despite its simplicity, this will is legally risky because it's easier to forge, and it often contains vague phrasings that are difficult to interpret in court.
3. Will Before Authority: Declaring the will's contents before a judge, succession registrar, or notary. A notarial will is considered very strong evidentially, as the notary confirms the testator's identity and free will.
4. Oral Will: This is a rare option reserved for extreme situations where a person faces imminent death or perceives themselves in such a situation, and cannot make a regular will. They speak their words before two witnesses, who must put the matter in writing (memorandum) and deposit it with the registrar as quickly as possible. This will's validity expires if the testator remains alive a month after the danger has passed.

Mutual Wills - What's Important to Know

Many couples choose to make a mutual will. In this will, spouses bequeath their property to each other, and determine that only after both die will the property pass to the children. The goal is to protect the surviving spouse, but it's important you understand the price: a mutual will greatly limits the ability to change it in the future. To change a mutual will while both spouses are alive, written notice to the other spouse is required. After one spouse's death, the surviving spouse's ability to change the will becomes nearly impossible (unless they waive their share of the inheritance). Therefore, don't make a mutual will without in-depth consultation with estate and wills attorneys who will build flexibility mechanisms if needed.

Assets That "Bypass" the Will - A Common Mistake

One of the critical mistakes in family wealth planning is the assumption that all assets are included in the will. You should know that very significant financial assets - such as pension funds, executive insurance, provident funds, and life insurance - are not considered part of the estate by law. This means the will's instructions don't apply to them, and these funds will be transferred to whoever is listed as "beneficiary" in the forms you filled out at the insurance company, sometimes decades ago.

To prevent an absurd situation where your ex-wife from 20 years ago receives the pension funds instead of your current wife, you must contact the insurance companies and update the beneficiaries, or explicitly and specifically state in the will that it also applies to these funds (and send notice of this to the insurance companies).

The Attorney's Role in Preventing Future Conflicts

The stage when the will comes to light is the most sensitive stage. When an application for probate order is filed, objections may arise from heirs who were disinherited or whose share is smaller than expected. The most common claims concern "undue influence" (claim that the testator was under pressure or manipulation), or "lack of medical competence" (claim that the testator was not of sound mind).

An experienced estate attorney acts as a "preventive architect." When making the will, they will ensure documentation of the event, sometimes through video recording of the conversation with the testator, and require a psychogeriatric opinion in real time if the testator is elderly or ill. These actions build an evidential "iron dome" around the will and make its invalidation very difficult in the future.

Moreover, in inheritance planning, tax aspects must be considered. While there is no "estate tax" in Israel, there are real estate taxes. Incorrect distribution of real estate assets among children can drag unnecessary tax liabilities upon future sale ("capital gains tax"). An attorney specializing in the field will know how to perform "tax planning" within the will, for example by allocating tax-exempt assets to certain heirs and liquid funds to others, while using financial balancing mechanisms.

Actual Estate Management

After death, the path to receiving property goes through the succession registrar. An application for succession order or probate order must be filed. This is a bureaucratic process including publication in newspapers and waiting for responses. In complex cases, where the asset scope is large, there are assets abroad, or the heirs don't get along, there may be a need to appoint an "estate administrator."

The estate administrator is usually a neutral party (often an estate attorney) whose role is to locate all assets, pay the deceased's debts (because debts take precedence over inheritance), submit financial reports, and finally distribute the balance to heirs. Professional estate management prevents friction and ensures all actions are performed transparently and with legal precision.

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The New Era: Digital Inheritance

In the modern world, a significant part of our property and memories exists in virtual space. Email accounts, social media profiles, digital wallets of cryptocurrencies, cloud photos, and websites we own - all these are "digital assets." Israeli law still lags slightly behind technology, so explicit reference to these assets in the will is of tremendous importance.

It's recommended to prepare an organized list of passwords and access details (and deposit it separately securely, or with a trustee), and give clear instructions on what you want done with your Facebook profile (memorialization or deletion?) and how to access the crypto wallet. Without these instructions, the information may be lost forever or locked by technology companies.