What happens if the original Israeli will cannot be found? Can it be probated from a copy?

A family knows exactly what the will said. They have a scanned copy the lawyer emailed years ago. What they do not have is the signed original, and in Israeli probate that gap is the whole problem. The copy proves the contents; it does not, on its own, prove the will was still in force on the day the testator died.

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Detailed Explanation

Israeli law starts from a suspicion, not from the copy in your hand. Under Section 36(a) of the Succession Law 1965, where a will was last known to be in the testator's possession and cannot be found after death, the testator is presumed to have destroyed it intending to cancel it. The logic is that a person who keeps a will usually keeps it findable, so its disappearance points toward deliberate destruction. That presumption is rebuttable, but until it is rebutted the copy leads nowhere.

Rebutting it is an evidence exercise. The heirs must satisfy the court, on clear and convincing evidence, both that the will genuinely existed in the form the copy shows and that the testator did not revoke it. Useful evidence includes the drafting lawyer's file and testimony, correspondence around the signing, witnesses to the will, proof the original was stored somewhere outside the testator's control such as a lawyer's safe or a relative's home, and any later conduct consistent with the will still standing. Where the original was demonstrably lost by accident, a fire, a flood, a misdelivered courier, the presumption weakens considerably.

The procedure differs from an ordinary probate. A straightforward will execution order (tzav kiyum tzavaa) is issued administratively by the Inheritance Registrar (Rasham HaYerushot) at the Ministry of Justice. A lost-original petition is not straightforward. It is filed as a request to admit a copy, with a supporting explanation of the original's absence, and because it invites dispute the Registrar hands it to the Family Court, which hears the evidence before deciding. That shift alone is what turns a matter of weeks into a matter of months.

For heirs who live abroad, the practical burden lands on assembling proof across borders. The lawyer who drafted the will, the witnesses, and the storage location may all be in different countries, and their statements often need to be given as sworn declarations, apostilled, and translated into Hebrew. An Israeli attorney can run the Family Court file under a power of attorney so no heir has to appear, but the case is only as strong as the evidence gathered from overseas. Starting early matters, because memories fade and the people who can authenticate the will do not stay reachable forever. If you are not even sure a will exists, our answer on how to find out whether someone left an Israeli will is the place to begin.

In Practice: Under Section 36(a) of the Succession Law 1965, a missing original is presumed revoked, and the copy petition is decided by the Family Court rather than by the Inheritance Registrar (Rasham HaYerushot). Court and publication fees run a few hundred shekels, but the real cost is the contested evidence stage: legal fees for a lost-will file commonly reach NIS 20,000 to 50,000, and where an heir opposes admission the case can take 8 to 18 months against the 6 to 14 weeks an uncontested order would take.

Key Considerations

• Section 36(a) of the Succession Law 1965 presumes a missing original was destroyed to revoke it.
• A copy proves the will's contents but not that it was still in force, so the presumption must be rebutted.
• Evidence carries the case: the drafting lawyer, witnesses, and proof the original was stored outside the testator's control.
• The petition goes to the Family Court, not the Inheritance Registrar, and takes far longer than a routine order.
• Heirs abroad must gather sworn, apostilled, and translated evidence, which an Israeli lawyer can file under power of attorney.

When to Consult a Lawyer

This question typically requires professional legal advice when:

• The original will cannot be located and another relative would inherit differently under the intestacy rules if the copy fails.
• An heir disputes that the copy reflects the last valid will or argues the testator revoked it.
• The will, witnesses, or drafting lawyer are spread across several countries and the evidence must be assembled and authenticated from abroad.

A qualified Israeli attorney should assess the strength of your evidence before you file, because a weak lost-will petition can hand the estate to the wrong heirs.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

We build and file lost-will petitions in the Family Court for heirs overseas, gathering the drafting lawyer's records and witness declarations to rebut the presumption of revocation, and we run the file under power of attorney so you do not need to travel.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.