Durable power of attorney in Israel: who decides for you, on what terms, and from when
A durable power of attorney is made while a person still understands what it means, so that it can operate in a future in which they no longer do. That is the whole idea. What separates a good document from a weak one is not its length, but how many decisions it settles in advance instead of leaving them to interpretation.
"The documents that cause trouble are not the badly drafted ones. They are the ones drafted too generally, so the attorney is left deciding without knowing what the grantor would have wanted."
Adv. and Notary Igal Mor · Estate planning and wills
What it actually is
A durable power of attorney is a document in which an adult, while still understanding what it means, appoints in advance the person who will make decisions for them if and when they can no longer make those decisions themselves. It was introduced by Amendment 18 to the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law, which came into force in April 2017.
Three features define the instrument:
- The choice belongs to the grantor. They choose the attorney, the categories, and the conditions on which the document will take effect.
- Made early, activated late. The document is drafted and deposited while dormant, and takes effect only when the conditions written into it are met.
- It can be revoked. For as long as the grantor understands what revocation means, they may revoke it.
The document transfers no ownership and gives the attorney no rights in the grantor's assets. It authorises them to act on the grantor's behalf, within a scope defined in advance and subject to supervision.
Durable power of attorney vs guardianship
The two instruments answer the same question from opposite starting points. Under a durable power of attorney the person chooses in advance. Under guardianship the court appoints after the fact, once the person can no longer choose.
The practical differences follow from that:
- Who decides. With a power of attorney, the grantor. With guardianship, the family court, on an application supported by medical material and the position of close relatives.
- What is settled in advance. A power of attorney can contain detailed directions. A guardian is appointed without the person having expressed their wishes in a document, unless advance directives were deposited.
- Supervision. Both routes are supervised, but the scope and procedure differ. A guardian of property carries detailed reporting duties.
- Timing. A power of attorney is made calmly, in advance. An application for guardianship is usually filed in the middle of a crisis.
The law also recognises a third instrument, supported decision-making, for a person who can decide but needs help understanding information and expressing their wishes. In practice a durable power of attorney made in time often removes the need for an appointment process altogether. See appointment of a guardian.
The three categories
A durable power of attorney can cover three areas. All of them or only some may be chosen, and different attorneys may be appointed for different areas.
- Personal matters. The person's welfare, where they live, employment, studies and leisure, and the day-to-day decisions that shape their way of life.
- Property matters. Management of assets, money and debts: bank accounts, real estate, ongoing payments and obligations.
- Medical matters. Decisions about treatment, tests and procedures. This is a sub-category of personal matters, and it can be assigned to a separate attorney.
Separating the areas is not a technicality. In many families the child suited to managing money is not the one suited to medical decisions. The law allows the split, and it is worth using where the family picture calls for it.
A substitute attorney can also be appointed, to step in if the first is unable or unwilling to serve. It is a short provision that prevents a return to square one at precisely the wrong moment.
Who may serve as attorney
The attorney must be an adult and must consent to the role in writing. Alongside that, the law sets out disqualifications designed to prevent conflicts of interest or an inability to function in the role.
A person may not be appointed if any of the following applies:
- A guardian has been appointed for them, or a durable power of attorney concerning them has taken effect.
- They are the lawyer who drafted the document, or acted as a witness to it.
- For property matters, they have been declared bankrupt without discharge, or are a severely restricted bank customer.
- They provide the grantor, for payment, with medical, social, nursing or residential services.
- They already serve as attorney for three or more people who are not members of their family.
Beyond the formal list, the practical question is different: can this person withstand family pressure, are they available, and can they deal with banks and institutions. Appointing two attorneys jointly sounds fair, but if no mechanism is set for resolving disagreement between them, it can paralyse the document at the very moment it is needed.
Who drafts it, and how it is deposited
A durable power of attorney is not a form to be filled in alone. It is made before a lawyer who has completed dedicated training given by the Administrator General and is registered accordingly, and who has no personal interest in the grantor's affairs.
The full sequence looks like this:
- The explanatory meeting. The lawyer explains the meaning, the consequences and the alternatives, and satisfies themselves that the grantor understands them. This is the heart of the process, not a formality.
- Drafting. The categories, the attorney and any substitutes, the advance directives, the informed persons and the conditions for taking effect are all settled.
- Signature. The grantor and the attorney sign, and the lawyer certifies the signatures.
- Deposit. The document is deposited with the Administrator General, online and under the lawyer's digital signature. Processing a deposit application takes roughly 21 business days from the date all required documents are received.
Deposit is not a technicality. Without it there is no durable power of attorney. A change is not made by amending the document by hand, but by drafting and depositing afresh. It follows that the document is worth reviewing every few years, and particularly after life events such as divorce, the death of the attorney, or a move abroad.
When the document takes effect
This is the point most often misunderstood. Depositing the document does not activate it. It remains dormant until the conditions expressly written into it are met.
The grantor sets those conditions, and they are usually tied to a state in which the grantor no longer understands the matter to which the power of attorney relates. A medical opinion establishing that is generally required, and sometimes another mechanism the grantor has chosen.
- Notification. When the conditions are met, the attorney notifies the Administrator General and attaches the required documents, and also notifies the grantor and the informed persons.
- Scope. The power of attorney takes effect only in the areas where the conditions have been met. A person may be capable of managing personal matters and not property matters.
- Until then. For as long as the grantor understands the matter, the decision is theirs. The attorney may not act in their place.
Because taking effect depends on the drafting, an over-general condition is a real problem: it leaves the attorney and the institutions arguing about whether the condition has been met. A clear condition, provable by a document, avoids that argument.
Advance directives and informed persons
Two mechanisms turn the document from a bare appointment into something that steers the decisions themselves and allows them to be followed.
Advance directives are instructions the grantor sets in advance about how the attorney is to act. They can be general or concrete: where the grantor wishes to live, their position on a move to an institutional setting, how assets are to be managed, what may and may not be sold, and which decisions require consultation. The more specific the direction, the narrower the room for interpretation and the smaller the risk of a family dispute.
Informed persons are those who will receive reports on the attorney's decisions and actions. It is a balancing mechanism: it lets another family member know what is being done without granting them authority. If the grantor prefers not to appoint informed persons, it can be provided that the Administrator General will supervise the attorney.
In practice, a clear advance directive combined with one or two informed persons is what prevents most disputes. It removes from the family the question of what the parent would have wanted, because the parent wrote it down.
The recurring mistakes
These are the defects we see again and again in documents drafted elsewhere and brought to us for review. None of them is rare.
- Drafting that is too general. "The attorney shall act in my best interests" is not a direction. It leaves the decision to interpretation, and sometimes to a dispute between siblings.
- No substitute. The attorney dies, falls ill or refuses, and there is nobody to step in. A guardianship application then becomes necessary after all.
- Two attorneys with no tie-breaker. It sounds fair; in practice it paralyses.
- A vague activation condition. If it is unclear who decides and on what basis, institutions will struggle to act on the document.
- The document was never updated. Divorce, a death, a move to another country or an estrangement change the picture, and the document still dates from 2018.
- Nothing was done about property. A power of attorney limited to personal matters does not allow bills to be paid or a bank account to be operated.
The most expensive mistake is a different one: delay. A durable power of attorney can only be made while the grantor understands what it means. Once that capacity is impaired, the only route left is appointment of a guardian.
In summary
A durable power of attorney is not a document for some distant emergency. It moves the decision from the future into the present, while the person can still make it themselves.
- It is made before a lawyer trained by the Administrator General, and deposited with that office. Without deposit there is no document.
- Personal, property and medical matters can be separated, with the right person appointed for each.
- Taking effect is not automatic. It depends on the conditions written into the document, and generally on a medical opinion.
- Advance directives and informed persons are what turn an appointment into an arrangement that can be followed.
- The document is not permanent. It is worth reviewing every few years and after life events.
We draft durable powers of attorney, review existing documents, and also act on the other side of the equation where a guardianship appointment becomes necessary. In many cases it is right to make the power of attorney together with a will, so that the two documents speak the same language.
What people ask most often
When should a durable power of attorney be made?
Can it be made without a lawyer, or downloaded as a form?
What happens if the document was never deposited?
From what moment may the attorney act?
Can more than one attorney be appointed?
Who cannot serve as attorney?
Can a durable power of attorney be revoked?
What is the difference between a power of attorney and guardianship?
What are informed persons?
What are advance directives?
Does a durable power of attorney transfer ownership of assets?
How often should the document be updated?
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A short consultation meeting to establish who the right attorney is, which categories to include, and which advance directives will prevent a dispute later.