Can a non-resident set up an Israeli enduring power of attorney for their Israeli assets?

An ordinary power of attorney over your Israeli apartment does something most owners never expect: it dies exactly when you need it most. The moment you lose mental capacity, an ordinary POA lapses, and your family is left applying to court for a guardian. Israel introduced a purpose-built tool to solve this, and a non-resident who owns Israeli property can use it. The catch is that it must be put in place while you are still fully capable.

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Detailed Answer

The continuing power of attorney (yipui koach mitmashech) was introduced by Amendment 18 to the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law 1962 in 2016, and it is governed by Sections 32A onward (Chapter Two-1) of that Law. Unlike an ordinary power of attorney, it is designed to survive, indeed to activate on, your loss of capacity. You (the memaneh, or principal) appoint an attorney of your choosing to manage defined matters, most commonly your Israeli property, bank accounts and financial affairs, and you can write in instructions and wishes, set how loss of capacity is to be determined (by default an expert opinion, and never the attorney's decision alone), and require the attorney to report to a trusted person. It takes effect only once it has been deposited, the conditions you set are met, and your attorney has filed a declaration with the Administrator General. Crucially, you must sign it before a lawyer who has completed the training required by law and has no personal interest in it, and it is deposited with the Administrator General (Apotropus HaKlali) at the Ministry of Justice. Our full guide to the continuing power of attorney for non-residents explains the drafting choices in detail.

For a non-resident who owns an Israeli home or portfolio, the value is avoiding a future Israeli guardianship (apotropsut), a court-run, slower and more intrusive process that your family would otherwise face from abroad while you are unwell. The practical hurdle is the signing. Because the document must be signed before a trained Israeli lawyer, you either travel to sign or arrange for such a lawyer to meet you; an Israeli consul or a foreign notary cannot take that lawyer's place. The document is in Hebrew, and it must be signed while you still have full capacity, which is the one thing that cannot be fixed after the fact. Put it in place early, and your chosen attorney can keep paying the arnona, managing tenants and dealing with the bank without a court ever being involved.

In Practice: Under Sections 32A onward of the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law 1962, a continuing power of attorney is deposited with the Administrator General (Apotropus HaKlali) at the Ministry of Justice, and deposit is a precondition for it ever taking effect. Accredited-lawyer drafting fees commonly run NIS 1,500 to NIS 5,000, whereas appointing a guardian through the Family Court instead, once capacity is already lost, takes several months and ongoing court supervision.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• You own Israeli real estate or an investment portfolio and want to avoid a court-appointed guardian if age or illness later affects you.
• You cannot travel to Israel to sign and need to arrange for a trained Israeli lawyer to meet you so the document is executed properly.
• You already hold an ordinary property power of attorney and wrongly assume it will keep working after a loss of capacity.

A qualified Israeli attorney who has completed the required training should prepare and deposit the document now, because it cannot be created once capacity is lost.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

A continuing power of attorney keeps your Israeli property in trusted hands and out of the guardianship courts, but only if it is signed while you are still well.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.