Amendments to the Israeli Succession Law

New amendments to the Israeli Succession Law came into effect recently. These amendments aim to alleviate the bureaucratic burden involved both in issuing probate orders or inheritance orders and in supervising estate executors.

When a person dies, the Succession Registrar issues a probate order or an inheritance order (depending on whether or not the deceased left a last will). However, if the application does not fulfill the technical criteria for issuing the order, the Registrar transfers the application to the Family Court. In many instances, an estate executor is appointed to manage the estate’s assets until they are distributed to the heirs. Such executor is subject to reporting duties.

The amendments to the Succession Law expand the Succession Registrar’s authorities and reduce the Custodian General’s supervision of estate executors.

Amendment Highlights

The Succession Registrar’s authorities

The amendment expands the authorities of the Succession Registrar to handle the following matters, which the law previously required the Registrar to transfer to Family Court:

1. To handle probate applications to which no objection was filed, in the following instances:

• The will was given orally.
• There is a defect or deficiency in the will.
• The deceased was residing abroad at the time of his death.
• There is no original will but only a copy of the will.

2. To appoint a temporary estate executor, with the consent of all heirs to such appointment. (Prior to the amendment, the Registrar could only appoint a permanent executor with the consent of all heirs.)

The purpose of the legislative amendments is to enable the Succession Registrar to handle a larger amount of simple succession matters. If the Registrar considers an issue to be more complex, it will refer the matter to the Family Court.

The Custodian General’s supervision

Up until now, the Custodian General supervised estate executors. The new amendment abolishes this requirement, so that now the heirs themselves oversee such supervision. Accordingly, estate executors will submit their reports to the heirs and not to the Custodian General, as was the case in the past.

Nevertheless, the Custodian General will be involved in the following instances:

1. There is a need to protect the interests of an heir who is incapable of handling his own affairs and no party has been authorized to handle his affairs for him (including a missing person or a minor with a nonparent guardian).
2. The will instructs to establish a public endowment, but the endowment has not yet been registered and no trustee has been appointed.
3. Six months have passed since an estate executor was appointed, no inheritance order or probate order has yet been issued, and no objections to the application for an order have been filed.
4. By court order, if the Custodian General or anyone acting on his behalf maintains that his supervision is necessary to protect an heir’s rights during the proceeding.

Implications of the Amendment

The objective of the amendment to the Succession Law is to streamline the handling of inheritance matters, in the sense that the Succession Registrar will be able to issue probate orders or inheritance orders more swiftly in simple cases, when all heirs agree to the issuance of the order and the process should be straightforward. It is reasonable to assume the handling of such cases will be quicker from now on than it previously was.

Furthermore, reducing the instances of the Custodian General’s supervision of estate executors is likely to free up valuable time for cases requiring his involvement to protect heirs who have no one capable of attending to their affairs for them. At the same time, it is important for heirs to know that in the event an estate executor is appointed, they will receive his reports and supervise his actions.

Nonetheless, when an objection is filed to a will or an inheritance order, or in complex cases (such as cases involving laws of different countries, cases when the division of the estate is complicated, etc.), the Succession Registrar will transfer the dispute to the Family Court and the parties will have to litigate the matter.

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Our Litigation department is at your service for questions regarding the Israeli Succession Law.

Adv. Gal Livshits is a partner in Barnea Jaffa Lande’s Litigation Department.