Israeli Legal Q&A

Yes. Section 110(a) of the Succession Law 1965 lets the heirs distribute estate assets by agreement between them instead of by court order, and no judicial approval is needed. The tax result depends on one thing: Section 5(c)(4) of the Land Taxation (Appreciation and Acquisition) Law 5723-1963 treats a distribution of estate assets among heirs as outside the definition of a sale, but only where no consideration comes from outside the estate. Introduce a balancing payment from an heir's own funds and that slice becomes a taxable purchase, with non-resident purchase tax starting at 8%.

There is no single deadline, and which rule applies decides everything. A money claim against an estate generally prescribes after seven years under Section 5 of the Prescription Law 5718-1958, and a claim in land after fifteen. But Section 159(b) of the Land Law 5729-1969 disapplies prescription altogether to a claim to establish a right in settled land, so a registered Tel Aviv apartment is in a different position from a bank balance. A succession order already issued can still be corrected or revoked under Section 72(a) of the Succession Law 1965 on new facts, provided you raise them at the first opportunity.

Usually yes, but only up to half its value. A loan secured on a residence for a purpose other than buying property is an all-purpose loan, and Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 329 caps it at 50% of the value of the dwelling. The same 50% ceiling applies to a foreign resident buying, so a non-resident owner has no headroom either way. A permanent relief lets a bank exceed a 70% loan-to-value ratio where the slice above 50% is no more than NIS 200,000, which in practice rarely reaches a non-resident file.

Yes, if you sign after 6 January 2026. Amendment No. 3 to the Contracts (General Part) Law 5733-1973 passed the Knesset on 5 January 2026 and was published the following day. It rewrote Section 25 so that a business contract is now read according to its wording, with the surrounding circumstances brought in only where the wording produces an unacceptable result or the clauses contradict each other. Non-business contracts still turn on the parties' intent. Contracts signed before 6 January 2026 continue under the older Apropim approach.

Your provincial certificate is not recognised in Israel, but the Israeli gate is an employment approval rather than a licence you hold personally. Section 16(a) of the Supervision of Schools Law 5729-1969 provides that no person may employ an education worker unless that worker holds written approval from the Director General of the Ministry of Education, and Section 16(b) sets out the grounds on which approval may be refused. A refusal or revocation can be appealed to the Minister of Education within 21 days under Section 20.

Your English registration counts for nothing on its own, but the Israeli test is academic rather than status-based, which makes it unusually friendly to preparation from abroad. Under Section 9 of the Social Workers Law 5756-1996 a person holding a foreign degree in social work qualifies once the Minister recognises that degree. Sections 2 and 3 then make entry in the Register of Social Workers the gate to practice, and Section 4 forbids anyone from employing an unregistered person in social work.

If no continuing power of attorney was signed while your parent still had capacity, the only route is a guardianship order. Section 33(a)(4) of the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law 5722-1962 lets the Family Court appoint a guardian for a person who cannot, permanently or temporarily, look after their affairs and has nobody authorised to do so. A child living abroad can be appointed, and Section 35 directs the court to appoint whoever is most suitable in the circumstances. Once appointed, Section 51 requires an inventory of the ward's assets and debts to be filed with the Administrator General within 30 days.

A little, and not where it hurts most. The reform replaces the current-account fee basket with a bundled payment account management service capped at NIS 10 a month for 100 transactions, NIS 5 for a near-dormant account, NIS 1 per transaction beyond 100, and NIS 7 a month for a debit card. Debit card caps take effect in October 2026 and the full basket becomes mandatory by July 2027. The charges that dominate a non-resident's costs, foreign transfer commissions and the currency conversion spread, sit outside it.

Usually not in the form Australians are used to. Israeli proceedings run on an affidavit (tatzhir) sworn with the warning required by Section 15 of the Evidence Ordinance [New Version] 5731-1971, and a foreign document has to be authenticated before an Israeli court will treat it as proved under Section 30 of the same Ordinance. A Commonwealth statutory declaration witnessed by a pharmacist or a teacher meets neither test. The workable route is an affidavit prepared and witnessed by an Australian notary public, then apostilled by DFAT for AUD 102 per document.

Israeli criminal information now runs on two clocks under the Criminal Information and Rehabilitation of Offenders Law 5779-2019, in force since 12 July 2022. Section 19 sets the limitation period for an adult at four years where no prison sentence was imposed and there was no earlier conviction, five years for sex and violence offences, seven years where there was a prior conviction or a prison term of up to five years plus that term, and ten years plus the term above that. Section 22 adds a further erasure period on top, after which the conviction is treated as though it never happened.

It can, but rarely does, and the reasons are procedural rather than merciful. An Israeli hospital suing a defendant who lives abroad needs the court's leave to serve the claim out of the jurisdiction under Regulation 166 of the Civil Procedure Regulations 5779-2018, then has to enforce any judgment under the law of your country. The debt itself does not disappear: it prescribes only after seven years under Section 5 of the Prescription Law 5718-1958, and it becomes collectable the moment you set foot in Israel again.

Not by asking the hospital. Section 18 of the Patient's Rights Law 5756-1996 gives the right to medical information to the patient, and Section 19 imposes a duty of confidentiality that does not end at death. Disclosure to anyone else is confined to the closed list in Section 20(a), which includes a legal duty to disclose. In practice that means an order of the Family Court hearing the will dispute, or an estate administrator appointed under the Succession Law 5725-1965.

You can do it from wherever you now live. Section 13D of the Consumer Protection Law 5741-1981 lets you end a continuing service by telephone, email, registered post or through the website where you signed up online, and the business must stop charging within 3 business days of your notice, or 6 business days by registered post. Charges taken after that must be refunded, and the Law allows compensation of up to NIS 10,000 without proof of damage where a business keeps billing after a valid cancellation.

They do not disappear. Section 6 of the Toll Road (Cross-Israel Highway) Law 5755-1995 makes the registered owner of the vehicle liable, so for a rental car the invoice goes to the rental company, which normally charges your card and adds a handling fee that can reach tens of shekels per invoice. For a car registered to you in Israel, unpaid invoices collect late-payment charges and interest, the vehicle can be impounded at a toll exit for NIS 191, and the debt can stand in the way of renewing the vehicle licence.

Not without a real risk of losing that argument, at least for now. Section 87 of the Income Tax Ordinance is designed to keep pension savings locked until retirement age, and an early withdrawal carries a 35% Israeli tax charge deducted by the fund. Returning Britons point to the UK-Israel convention, under which pensions paid to a UK resident are taxable only in the UK, but in an interim decision in Civil Appeal 1740-12-24 the District Court signalled that this will not be easy to prove. The final judgment is still awaited.

It can tax him, and your shares are part of the reason why. Section 75B of the Income Tax Ordinance treats a private foreign company as a controlled foreign company where most of its income is passive, the foreign tax rate on that income does not exceed 15%, and Israeli residents hold more than 50% of the means of control. A separate limb catches holdings of over 40% by Israeli residents where, together with a foreign-resident relative, they exceed 50%. Your brother is then deemed to receive a dividend of his share of the undistributed passive profits.

No. The 2019 Hague Judgments Convention entered into force for the United Kingdom on 1 July 2025, but Israel signed it on 3 March 2021 and has not ratified it, so it creates no route between the two countries. An English money judgment is still enforced under the Foreign Judgments Enforcement Law 5718-1958, helped by the 1970 UK-Israel convention on reciprocal enforcement, through an application to an Israeli District Court made within five years of the judgment under Section 5.

Not because of the reserve duty, and not during it without a permit. Section 41A of the Discharged Soldiers (Reinstatement to Work) Law 5709-1949 voids a dismissal caused by reserve service and bars dismissal during service, and for 30 days after service of more than two consecutive days, unless the Employment Committee at the Ministry of Defence approves it. The employer carries the burden of proof, and arrangements made permanent in 2026 extend the protected window to 60 days for employees who serve 60 days or more in a year.