How do I find out if someone left a will in Israel?

When a relative dies with assets in Israel, the first question is rarely about tax or property. It is simpler and more anxious than that: did they leave a will, and where is it? A handwritten note may be sitting in a drawer thousands of miles away, or a formal will may have been deposited with the state and forgotten. Israel keeps a central register precisely for this situation, and there are concrete steps a foreign heir can take to find out what exists before anyone files for inheritance.

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Detailed Explanation

The most reliable place to look is the will deposit register maintained by the Registrar of Inheritance (Rasham HaYerushot) at the Ministry of Justice. Section 21 of the Succession Law 1965 lets any person deposit their own will with the Registrar while alive. The deposit is recorded centrally. After the testator dies, an heir or other interested party can apply to the Registrar to check whether a will was deposited and, if so, retrieve it. This single search answers the question for any will that went through the formal deposit route.

Just as important, the Registrar consults this register on its own initiative. When anyone applies for a succession order (tzav yerusha, used when there is no will), the Registrar first checks whether a deposited will exists. If one does, the application for a no-will order cannot proceed, and the file is redirected toward a will execution order instead. This built-in check is a safety net: a deposited will cannot be quietly bypassed by an heir who would prefer the intestacy rules.

Not every will is deposited, though, and many are not. A handwritten will or a will signed before a lawyer often stays in private hands. So the search has to run on two tracks at once. The first track is the official register. The second is a physical search of the deceased's papers, safe deposit box, lawyer's files, and home, coordinated from abroad through a relative in Israel or an Israeli attorney holding power of attorney. Israeli lawyers who drafted a will frequently retain a signed copy and a record, so contacting any attorney the deceased used is often productive.

There is also a public-notice dimension. Once an application for a succession order or will execution order is filed, the Registrar publishes notice in the official gazette (Reshumot) and in a daily newspaper, opening a 14-day window for objections. Searching these publications can reveal that someone has already begun the process, which matters if you suspect another heir is moving without telling the rest of the family. For the full sequence from search to distribution, our complete guide to Israeli probate walks through each stage.

For non-residents the practical obstacle is access. The Registrar's search and any filing are done in Hebrew, the forms ask for the deceased's Israeli identity number, and original documents such as the foreign death certificate must be apostilled and translated before the file is complete. None of this requires the heir to appear in person, but it does require either an Israeli relative or a lawyer to act on instructions.

In Practice: Under Section 21 of the Succession Law 1965, the Registrar of Inheritance (Rasham HaYerushot) at the Ministry of Justice holds the central will deposit register and checks it before issuing any succession order. A lifetime deposit costs roughly NIS 105, and a post-death search request is typically answered within a few weeks; the deceased's nine-digit Israeli identity number is needed to run the search, and an apostilled, Hebrew-translated death certificate must accompany any subsequent application.

Key Considerations

• The will deposit register only captures wills the testator chose to deposit; many wills are never deposited.
• The Registrar automatically checks the register before granting a no-will succession order, so a deposited will is not easily missed.
• Contact any Israeli lawyer the deceased used, as drafting attorneys usually keep a signed copy and a file note.
• A safe deposit box at an Israeli bank may hold the original, but the bank will not open it without a court order or succession documents.
• The deceased's Israeli identity number is the key that unlocks both the register search and the eventual filing.

When to Consult a Lawyer

This question typically requires professional legal advice when:

• You suspect a will exists but cannot locate the original, and assets are at risk of being distributed under the intestacy rules.
• Another heir appears to be filing for inheritance without disclosing whether a will was found.
• The deceased had a will in one country and assets in Israel, and you need to know which document governs the Israeli estate.

A qualified Israeli attorney should run the register search and the physical document trace in parallel before any inheritance application is lodged, so the estate is distributed on the correct document.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

We search the Registrar's will deposit register, trace privately held wills through the deceased's Israeli contacts, and confirm what document governs the estate before any filing is made.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.