Intestate Succession in Israel: A Guide for Foreign Heirs

When someone dies owning Israeli assets but leaves no will, the question heirs abroad ask first is rarely the legal one. It is personal: who gets what, and does a family in London or New York or Buenos Aires have any say in it? The answer is that Israeli law, not the family, decides. The Succession Law 1965 contains a rigid order of inheritance that applies automatically the moment there is no valid will, and it does not bend to expectations, fairness arguments, or what the deceased "would have wanted."

Understanding that order before you apply for anything saves foreign heirs from two common shocks: discovering that a long-estranged relative is a legal heir, or assuming a surviving spouse inherits everything when Israeli law gives a defined share to the children as well. This guide sets out who inherits under Israeli intestacy, in what proportions, and how heirs living abroad turn that entitlement into a registered, enforceable succession order.

What "Intestate" Means in Israel

Israeli succession runs on two tracks. Where there is a valid will, heirs apply for a will execution order, tzav kiyum tzava'a (צו קיום צוואה). Where there is no will, succession passes "by law," yerusha al pi din, and heirs apply instead for a succession order, tzav yerusha (צו ירושה). The two orders do different jobs and follow different rules.

Intestacy is more common in cross-border estates than people expect. An Israeli relative who emigrated decades ago may never have made an Israeli will. A parent may have written a will covering their home country but said nothing about a dormant Israeli bank account or an inherited apartment in Haifa. In both cases, the Israeli assets fall to be distributed under the statutory order, regardless of any foreign will that ignored them.

For the broader procedure that applies to both wills and intestacy, see our complete guide to Israeli probate. The focus here is specifically on what happens when no will governs the Israeli estate.

The Statutory Order of Heirs

Sections 10 to 17 of the Succession Law 1965 fix who inherits, and in what sequence. The system works in classes, with a closer class excluding a more distant one entirely.

First, the spouse and the descendants. The surviving spouse inherits alongside the deceased's children. If a child has already died, that child's own children inherit their parent's share by representation. Grandchildren do not inherit while their parent is alive.

Second, the parents and their line. If the deceased left no children or grandchildren, the spouse shares instead with the deceased's parents, and failing them, the deceased's siblings and their descendants.

Third, the grandparents and their line. Only if none of the above exist does the estate reach the grandparents and their descendants, which is how aunts, uncles, and cousins can become heirs.

Failing everyone, the State. Under Section 17, an estate with no heirs at all passes to the State of Israel.

Within any class, heirs share equally. Two surviving children split their portion in half; four children take a quarter each.

In Practice: Under Sections 10 and 12 of the Succession Law 1965, the order is applied by the Inheritance Registrar (Rasham HaYerushot) at the Ministry of Justice on the face of the documents, without any inquiry into family fairness. The official filing fee for a succession order application is approximately NIS 516, plus a publication fee of around NIS 130. On an uncontested file with correctly apostilled foreign documents, the Registrar typically issues the order within 6 weeks to 4 months. The Registrar cannot vary the shares; only the Family Court can, and only on specific statutory grounds.

How the Surviving Spouse's Share Actually Works

The single most misunderstood part of Israeli intestacy is the spouse's entitlement. Foreign heirs often assume the widow or widower simply inherits the lot. Section 11 says otherwise.

The surviving spouse first takes, outright, the movable property of the shared household and the family car. On top of that, the spouse takes a fraction of the remaining estate:

• One-half where the deceased also left children or grandchildren.
• Two-thirds where the deceased left no descendants but did leave parents, or siblings and their descendants.

So a widow whose late husband left two children does not inherit the Israeli apartment outright. She inherits half of it; the two children share the other half. That division surprises families and, in cross-border estates, frequently means a non-resident child holds a registrable share in an Israeli flat they have never seen.

There is one significant addition. Where the couple had been married at least three years and lived together in an apartment that forms part of the estate, the surviving spouse is entitled to the deceased's share of that apartment in addition to the ordinary portion. This protects a long-married spouse from being forced to sell the family home to pay out the children's shares.

In Practice: Under Section 11(a) of the Succession Law 1965, a surviving spouse married three or more years who resided with the deceased in an estate apartment receives the deceased's share of that apartment on top of the statutory half or two-thirds. On a NIS 4,000,000 Tel Aviv apartment held solely by the deceased, this provision can shift hundreds of thousands of shekels of value from the children to the spouse compared with a straight one-half split. The entitlement is recorded in the succession order itself, which the Land Registry (Tabu) then uses to register the new ownership shares, a registration step that typically takes a further 4 to 8 weeks after the order issues.

Who Counts as a Spouse, a Child, or a Parent

Israeli intestacy defines its categories in ways that catch foreign heirs off guard.

A common-law spouse, yadua batzibur (ידוע בציבור), can inherit as a spouse under Section 55 where the couple lived together as a family and neither was married to someone else. There need be no marriage certificate. This means an unmarried partner abroad may be a legal heir, and a file that omits them can later be reopened.

Children born outside marriage inherit on equal terms with children born within it; Israeli law draws no distinction. Adopted children inherit from their adoptive parents under Section 16, and generally not from the biological line they left.

These definitions matter because the succession order lists every legal heir, and the Registrar publishes a public notice inviting objections. An omitted half-sibling or unmarried partner who surfaces after the order issues can apply to have it corrected, unwinding distributions already made.

Which Country's Law Governs the Estate

For a deceased who was domiciled in Israel, Israeli succession law applies straightforwardly. The cross-border complication arises when the deceased lived abroad but left Israeli assets.

Section 137 of the Succession Law 1965 directs that succession is governed by the law of the deceased's domicile at the time of death. So if your late relative was domiciled in France or the United States, that country's inheritance rules may in principle govern even the Israeli assets, and the Israeli Inheritance Registrar may be asked to apply foreign law to the Israeli estate. In practice the analysis is layered, because Israeli courts treat immovable property with particular care and questions of renvoi can arise.

This is not a do-it-yourself area. The interaction between, say, a US forced-heirship-free regime, a French réserve héréditaire, and the Israeli statutory order determines who actually inherits the Haifa apartment. Getting it wrong means applying for an order on the wrong legal basis and having it challenged.

How Foreign Heirs Obtain the Order

None of this requires the heirs to travel to Israel. The succession order application is a documentary process, and an Israeli lawyer files it on the heirs' behalf.

The core documents are the death certificate, proof of each heir's relationship to the deceased, and the heirs' identity documents. Every document issued abroad must be apostilled in its country of origin and translated into Hebrew by a notary. Heirs sign their consent and a power of attorney before a local notary, apostille those, and courier them to Israel. The checklist of exactly what each foreign heir must produce is set out in our foreign heir document checklist for Israeli inheritance.

Common Mistake: Foreign heirs withdraw funds from the deceased's Israeli bank account before the succession order issues, often to cover funeral costs or because the account is jointly held. Under Section 107 of the Succession Law 1965, an heir who deals with estate property before the order can face personal liability to creditors and co-heirs, and the bank reports the withdrawal. The Inheritance Registrar may require the funds restored before processing the order, adding 4 to 8 weeks and typically NIS 8,000 to NIS 15,000 in legal costs to put right.

Practical Checklist for Foreign Heirs in an Intestate Estate

• Confirm there is genuinely no will, including no separate Israeli will, before applying for a succession order rather than a will execution order
• Map the full class of legal heirs under the statutory order, including any common-law spouse or child born outside marriage
• Gather and apostille the death certificate and each heir's proof of relationship in the country of origin
• Arrange Hebrew notarial translations of all foreign documents
• Take advice on which country's succession law governs if the deceased was domiciled abroad
• Do not touch estate bank accounts or property before the order issues
• Appoint one Israeli lawyer to file for all heirs to avoid duplicated or conflicting applications
• Budget for the registry fees plus legal costs, and a realistic timeline of several months

Speak With an Israeli Attorney

An intestate Israeli estate is governed by a fixed statutory order, but turning that order into a registered title or a released bank balance from abroad takes correctly apostilled documents and a clear view of which heirs the law recognises. An Israeli inheritance lawyer can confirm the heirs, advise on the governing law where the deceased lived abroad, and obtain the succession order without the family travelling to Israel.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.