If I bring a claim in Israel from the UK, will the court make me deposit money for the other side's costs?

Quite possibly, and the application usually lands within weeks of your claim being served. Regulation 157(a) of the Civil Procedure Regulations 5779-2018 gives the court a broad discretion to order a claimant to give security for the defendant's costs, and the sanction for not depositing it is severe: the statement of claim is struck out. Defendants in Israeli estate disputes make this application almost as a reflex when the objector lives in Manchester or Glasgow, on the straightforward argument that if the claim fails there will be nothing in Israel to enforce a costs order against. The regulation itself sets out no criteria, so the outcome is shaped by case law and by how well the point is argued.

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Detailed Answer

The court weighs several things: your prospects of success on a preliminary view, your financial position, whether you hold assets in Israel, and whether a costs order made against you could realistically be collected where you live. That last factor is where British claimants have an advantage many of them never deploy. Israel is a designated country under Part I of the UK's Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933, which means an Israeli money judgment, including a costs order, can be registered in the High Court in London and enforced against assets in England and Wales. Put that squarely before the Israeli judge, with evidence of your English assets, and the central justification for security weakens considerably. Claimants from countries with no reciprocal arrangement with Israel do not have that answer available, which is one of the few places where being British genuinely helps in an Israeli courtroom. Where security is nonetheless ordered, the sum is usually calibrated to the likely costs of the defence rather than to the value of the estate, and it is set in an amount the court expects a serious claimant to be able to raise. Note also that a foreign company as claimant faces a parallel provision under Section 353A of the Companies Law 5759-1999, where the presumption runs against the company more firmly.

In will disputes the sequencing has its own logic. An objection to a probate application is filed with the Inheritance Registrar within the 14 days following publication, at which point the file is transferred to the Family Court and becomes ordinary litigation, with the security application typically following soon after. A claimant abroad should therefore plan the deposit into the budget from the outset rather than treating it as an unexpected obstacle in month four, and should be ready to move quickly, since courts set a deadline of around 30 days and are not generous about extensions where the claimant has known about the risk. Two practical steps reduce the exposure. Offer security in a form that costs less than cash, such as a bank guarantee or a charge over an Israeli asset if you have one, and open the merits properly in your response, because a claim that looks arguable attracts lower security than one that reads as speculative. Whether the underlying challenge is worth bringing at all is a separate question, addressed in our note on contesting an unequal Israeli will as a non-resident heir.

In Practice: Regulation 157(a) of the Civil Procedure Regulations 5779-2018 lets the court order security and strike out the claim if it is not deposited, and in Family Court estate disputes the sums ordered against claimants living abroad commonly fall between NIS 20,000 and NIS 100,000, set by reference to the defendant's expected costs rather than the size of the estate. The court usually allows about 30 days to deposit. Add the court fee on the substantive claim, charged at 2.5% of the value claimed and paid in two instalments, and a contested will dispute that runs 18 to 36 months at the Family Court starts to demand real funding before the merits are ever heard.

When to Consult a Lawyer

• You are about to file an objection to an Israeli probate application from the UK, where the security application should be anticipated and answered in the same breath rather than met cold.
• The court has already ordered security in a sum you cannot raise within 30 days, since an application to vary the amount or to substitute a guarantee has to be made before the deadline expires, not after the claim is struck out.
• You hold assets in England but none in Israel, in which case evidence of those assets and of the reciprocal enforcement route is the strongest material you have for resisting or reducing the order.

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Speak With an Israeli Attorney

An Israeli lawyer can assess the likely security exposure before you file, argue the reciprocal enforcement point, and structure the deposit so your claim is not lost on a procedural deadline.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.