Estate of a foreign resident with assets in Israel: jurisdiction, governing law and what to file
An apartment in Jerusalem, a bank account in Tel Aviv, a share in a family company. When the owner dies at home overseas, the heirs discover that the question of who inherits does not begin with the will. It begins with two prior questions: which country has jurisdiction, and which law decides. Israel's Succession Law answers both, and not with the same answer.
"The hard cases are not the ones with no will, but the ones with two, in two countries, that no one coordinated."
Adv. and Notary Igal Mor
Two different questions: who has jurisdiction and which law applies
Chapter Seven of the Succession Law separates jurisdiction from governing law. Section 136 provides that a court in Israel has jurisdiction over the estate of any person whose residence at the time of death was in Israel, or who left property in Israel. A single asset in Israel is enough to open the door.
Jurisdiction does not bring Israeli law with it. Section 137 directs that the succession is governed by the law of the deceased's residence at the time of death, subject to the exceptions in sections 138 to 140. A court in Jerusalem may therefore hear the estate and decide it under the law of California, France or England.
This produces the result that surprises many heirs: the will can be valid, the Israeli court can have jurisdiction, and the estate will still be divided under rules that none of the heirs has ever read.
Succession Law, 5725-1965, sections 136 and 137. Checked September 2026.
"Residence" under the Succession Law: centre of life, not passport
The word on which the whole chapter rests is "residence" (moshav), and section 135 defines it: the place where a person's centre of life is located. Not citizenship, not a registered address and not the place of death. Someone who lived twenty years in Toronto and died on a visit to Israel has their residence in Canada.
Section 141 adds an interpretive rule: for the purpose of determining jurisdiction and governing law, every term carries the meaning it has in Israeli law. The court therefore examines "centre of life" through Israeli eyes, even where the deceased had not set foot in the country for years.
In most cases the place of residence is clear. Disputes arise with people who divided their lives between two countries: a home in each, family in each, business in each. There the question of where the centre of life was becomes a question of evidence, and sometimes the heart of the dispute.
Succession Law, sections 135 and 141. Checked September 2026.
Real estate in Israel: when the law of the place prevails
Section 138 provides that assets which pass by inheritance only under the law of the place where they are located are governed, as to their succession, by that law. The section is worded generally, and its most important practical consequence concerns real estate: an apartment or plot in Israel may be subject to Israeli law even where the deceased was a foreign resident and the rest of the estate is decided under the law of residence.
The result is sometimes a split: the bank account and the shares under the law of the country of residence, the apartment under Israel's Succession Law. Two sets of rules, in one file, before one court. Whoever prepares the application needs to know in advance which asset falls into which basket.
That split is also why advance planning saves heirs a great deal: a will that deals with the Israeli assets separately can remove the need to prove foreign law for the apartment at all.
Succession Law, section 138. Checked September 2026.
A will made abroad: capacity and form
A will signed in New York or Paris is not invalid merely because it was not made under Israeli law. Section 139 provides that capacity to make a will is governed by the law of the testator's residence at the time the will was made. Section 140 opens a range of options for the form of the will: it is valid as to form if it complies with Israeli law, the law of the place where it was made, the law of the testator's residence or habitual abode, or the law of the testator's nationality, at the time of making or at the time of death.
And to the extent the will concerns real estate, the section adds, it is also valid if it complies with the law of the place where the property is located. A will made abroad over an apartment in Israel can therefore also be examined under Israeli law.
This generous approach is designed to uphold wills, not to strike them down. But "valid as to form" is not the end of the road: the will still has to be proved, translated and filed, as described below.
Succession Law, sections 139 and 140. Checked September 2026.
How foreign law is proved in an Israeli court
An Israeli court is not presumed to know the succession law of other countries. Foreign law is a fact, and it is the heirs who must prove it. In practice this is done through an expert opinion on the foreign law, explaining who the heirs are under that law and what their shares are. The Administrator General's guide says so expressly for a testator who was not an Israeli resident and left assets in Israel.
The opinion is examined like any evidence: who the expert is, what their training in that law is, whether a contrary opinion was filed. In an uncontested file, a well-structured opinion is usually what allows the file to move forward.
The law also limits the application of foreign law. Section 142 provides that where the foreign law refers to another law, the reference is disregarded, unless it refers back to Israeli law. Section 143 excludes foreign law to the extent it discriminates on grounds of race, religion, sex or nationality, or is contrary to Israeli public policy. Section 144 restricts inheritance rights under foreign law for persons who are not relatives.
Succession Law, sections 142 to 144. Administrator General's guide for beneficiaries under a will (gov.il). Checked September 2026.
Registrar or court: where the application ends up
An application for an inheritance order or a probate order is filed with the Registrar of Inheritance, who may declare the heirs' rights under section 66. Section 67 requires publication and a period for objections of no less than two weeks.
Section 67A lists the cases in which the application is transferred to the Family Court: an objection, involvement of the State or the Attorney General, representation by the Administrator General, and the Registrar's own discretion. In the current text of the law, the paragraph that ordered automatic transfer of applications governed by Chapter Seven has been repealed. Transfer of a foreign-law file to the court is therefore a matter for the Registrar's discretion, not a statutory duty.
What this means for heirs: an orderly application, with a foreign-law opinion and authenticated documents, may be completed before the Registrar. A deficient application, or one that draws an objection, will reach the court with everything that implies in time and cost.
Succession Law, sections 66, 67 and 67A in their current text; regulation 20 of the Succession Regulations. Checked September 2026.
The documents that arrive from abroad
The estate of a foreign resident is a file of foreign documents, and each has its own rule.
- Death certificate. Section 68(a) requires proof of death by a death certificate or a declaration of death. A foreign certificate is proved as a foreign document, usually with an apostille.
- The original will, or a foreign probate order in its place. Section 68(b) requires a will to be proved by producing the original. But where the original is outside Israel and cannot be produced, and a probate order was granted by a court or competent authority abroad, the will need not be proved by the original, provided the foreign order is proved as a foreign document under section 30 of the Evidence Ordinance. Regulation 14(b)(3) allows the foreign order to be attached to the application.
- Translation. Regulation 54A requires every document in a foreign language to be accompanied by a notarially certified translation into Hebrew or Arabic. English is exempt from the requirement.
- Power of attorney. An heir who is not in Israel acts through a notarial or consular power of attorney, as required by the receiving body. See notarial and consular power of attorney.
Succession Law, section 68; Succession Regulations, regulations 14(b)(3) and 54A; Evidence Ordinance, section 30. Checked September 2026.
A separate Israeli will: the advantage and the trap
A person who lives abroad and holds assets in Israel can make an Israeli will that deals only with the assets here. The practical advantage: the heirs apply for a probate order over the Israeli assets on a document made under Israeli law, and are sometimes spared proving foreign law for those assets.
The trap is in section 36(b). A new will, even without an express revocation, is treated as revoking an earlier will to the extent its provisions contradict it. A later foreign will worded "all my property wherever situated" may unintentionally revoke the Israeli will, and vice versa. Two wills in two countries require express coordination: each states that it applies only to assets in one country and does not revoke the other.
The Israeli will also fits alongside other tools of estate planning, and where assets sit in several countries the tax question is examined separately. See appreciation tax exemption for a foreign resident.
Succession Law, section 36(b). Checked September 2026.
In summary
In summary, the estate of a foreign resident who left assets in Israel opens with two separate questions: the Israeli court has jurisdiction by virtue of the assets here, but the governing law is the law of the deceased's residence, except for assets such as real estate where the law of the place prevails. The foreign law has to be proved, the foreign documents have to be authenticated and translated, and the application has to be filed in the right place.
The difficulty lies not in any one section but in how they meet: foreign law, foreign evidence, and at times two succession regimes over a single estate. A file like this calls for someone who knows in advance which asset falls under which law, and which document will be accepted without delay.
Contact us to review the estate before you, and to coordinate an Israeli will with the will that already exists in your country of residence.
What people ask us about the estate of a foreign resident
My father died in the United States and left an apartment in Israel. Where do we file?
Will Israeli law decide who inherits?
What is a "foreign law opinion" and who writes it?
The will is held by a court abroad and the original cannot be obtained. What then?
The documents are in English. Do we need a notarial translation?
Is it worth making a separate Israeli will for the assets in Israel?
The heirs are abroad. Must they come to Israel?
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Foreign Residents DepartmentEstate of a foreign resident with assets in IsraelEnding residency for income tax and National InsuranceEnding residency and health insurance on relocationReal estate and tax
Appreciation tax exemption for a foreign residentTax on an inherited apartmentReal estate transaction taxesKnow in advance which law applies to which asset
A short consultation meeting in which we map the estate's assets in Israel, identify which law governs each of them, and which documents from abroad are needed to file an application that will not be sent back.