Lawyers
The fate of the estate of a foreign resident who left assets in Israel
As a general rule, in a situation where a person bequeaths assets in Israel in his will and is a resident of the country, Israeli inheritance laws are the ones that will apply to the estate. However, what happens when the deceased is a foreign resident who left assets in Israel?
We will discuss this interesting question in the article before you:
By Igal Mor, Adv. & Notary
Accuracy in Legal Advice. Excellence in legal support.
Does a court in Israel or a court in the person's country of residence have the authority to discuss the question of property division?
In this global age we live in, many people have property and assets in other countries , in which they do not live. Sometimes the reason for this is purely financial, for the purpose of investment and sometimes the reason is personal because that person has a family in a foreign country. What happens to those assets when their owner dies? Let’s rephrase the question in the following manner: Say we have a situation where an indicidual, who is not a resident of Israel, passes away and leaves behind an estate, part of which is in Israel. In such a situation, who is the authorized party to discuss that inheritance? Is the relevant court the one that is in Israel or the court that is in the country where the deceased lived?
Or in other words, in accordance to which law will the property be divided, Israeli law or the law of the testator's place of residence?
Section 136 of the Inheritance Law, 1965, states that the courts in Israel are given givenAuthority to discuss the inheritance of any person whose place of residence at the time of his death was in Israel or who left assets in Israel. That is, the legal authority to discuss the division of the property is that of the court in Israel, even when the deceased was not a resident of the country at all, but living at all in another country. although, A distinction must be made between the authority of the courts and which specific law will apply. What are things supposed to be? While the decision-making authority rests with the Israeli court, the division of the property itself will be carried out according to the relevant foreign law from the place of residence of the deceased, and not according to the Israeli inheritance laws.
Expert opinion - foreign law and inheritance orders
This situation causes difficulty because naturally, the courts in Israel do not know the inheritance laws of other countries and now they are required to rule in accordance withinheritance laws of foreign countries. Therefore, In these cases, the inheritance of a foreign resident , the receipt of a will order or an inheritance order involves a unique requirement that does not exist in a normal inheritance procedure. The heirs will have to submit to the court an opinion from a legal expertwho knows the inheritance laws of that country. In his expert opinion, the expert will clarify the manner of distribution of the testator’s property according to the foreign law. If the court has the impression that his opinion is reliable and no contradictory opinion has been submitted, the court will order the division of the inheritance in accordance with what is stated inhis expert opinion.
Advantages of making a will in Israel
As mentioned above, the Inheritance Law gives the Israeli court the authority to discuss the inheritance of a person who is not a resident of the country but left assets here after his death. However, the applicable law in this situation is the foreign law of the country where the deceased lived, something that greatly hinders the acceptance of the inheritance. Therefore, it is recommended to draw up an Israeli will with regard to assets and property located in Israel, in order to make it easier for the heirs to receive their inheritance. In this way, they will be able to submit a standard request for an order to maintain a will and will not be required to go through the complex legal procedure of submitting an expert opinion.
Lawyer for wills and inheritance law:
Regarding the distribution of the inheritance, we recommend that you contact us immediately. Legal support from a lawyer specializing in the field is of crucial importance, we will make sure that the rights of the heirs are preserved and that it will be possible to financially maximize the resources of the estate.
Additionally, it is common to have in regards to the granting of an inheritance order or likewise opposition to an order to execute a will, so the heirs need representation in the legal process. As far as complex cases are concerned such as the inheritance of a foreign resident, The importance of the lawyer’s involvement is even greater. This is because, in this situation, the authority to discuss the matter rests with the Israeli court, but it must rule according to the law of the country where the deceased lived. Therefore, the heirs are required to provide the court with an opinion from an expert in the foreign law of the country where the testator resided. We will locate the relevant expert, we will make sure that there are sufficient references for his knowledge of foreign law so that his opinion will be accepted by the court and we will manage the procedure until the estate is distributed to the heirs.
