How do I find out whether my relative left a will in Israel?

There is a register, and it is the right first stop. Under Section 21 of the Succession Law 1965 a person who has made a written or witnessed will may deposit it with the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (Rasham HaYerushot), and deposits are logged in a national computerised record shared across all five district offices. Only the testator can deposit a will and only the testator can take it back, which is what makes the register reliable. After death, the check happens as part of the process: when anyone applies for a succession order or a probate order, the Registrar searches the deposit record before issuing anything, and a deposited will stops an intestacy application in its tracks.

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Detailed Answer

Understand the limits of what the register proves. Depositing a will has never been mandatory in Israel, and a large share of valid wills sit in a drawer at home, in a lawyer's safe or in a bank deposit box. So a nil result from the register tells you only that your relative did not use that particular facility, not that they died intestate. That is why experienced practitioners run three searches in parallel: the Registrar's deposit record, an approach to any Israeli lawyer the family knows the deceased used, since Israeli firms hold original wills for clients as a matter of routine, and an application to access a bank safe deposit box, which requires its own authority. The costs of deposit changed recently and are worth knowing when you are reconstructing what your relative did: a first deposit, or a deposit made more than five years after the previous one, has been free of charge since 1 January 2025, where the earlier fee was around NIS 115. A deposited will is opened by the Registrar after death on proof of death, and an heir who learns of one can then decide whether to seek a probate order or to object.

For heirs who live abroad the efficient move is usually to make the application rather than to write letters asking questions. An application for a succession order or a probate order is filed electronically by an Israeli advocate, costs NIS 520 plus NIS 130 for the statutory publication, and forces the Registrar to run the deposit check and to publish notice in a daily newspaper and in the official gazette, opening a 14-day window for objections. That publication does something a private search cannot: it reaches Israeli lawyers, banks and family members who may hold the missing document. Practical prerequisites are the usual ones for a file run from abroad. The death certificate must be apostilled and translated where the death occurred outside Israel, each applicant heir signs an affidavit before a notary and has it apostilled, and an Israeli lawyer needs a power of attorney in the same form. The mechanics of filing without travelling are set out in our note on filing for Israeli probate online from abroad. One warning worth repeating: do not apply for an intestacy order while you suspect a will exists, because a succession order later contradicted by a will has to be revoked, and that costs far more than waiting a month.

In Practice: Section 21 of the Succession Law 1965 creates the deposit facility, and the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs checks the national deposit register on every application before issuing an order. Filing costs NIS 520 plus NIS 130 for publication, the objection window runs 14 days from publication, and an uncontested order issues 3 to 6 months from filing. Where an application is made from abroad, allow an extra 3 to 6 weeks at the start for apostilled affidavits and the death certificate, and expect the Registrar to reject a file where the translation of a foreign death certificate is not certified.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• The family believes a will exists but nobody can produce it, where a copy may still be admitted under Section 68(b) if the loss can be explained, and the evidence for that has to be gathered early.
• One heir is pressing ahead with an intestacy application while others suspect a will, since revoking an order already issued is slower and more expensive than pausing for a proper search.
• The deceased made wills in two countries, where the later document may have revoked the earlier one and the interaction between a foreign will and Israeli assets needs to be resolved before anything is filed.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

An Israeli lawyer can run the deposit search, file the application that triggers the Registrar's own check, and advise whether to seek a succession order or wait until the will is located.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.