The situation: a deceased client held an apartment in Netanya, a bank account in Tel Aviv, a share in a family plot. Or a living client is buying, selling or renovating in Israel. You run the file at home; Israel is the part you cannot execute. This page states plainly what Israel requires, what we deliver, and how the instruction works between independent firms.
Three facts that fix the sequence
1. Your grant, letters or certificate have no effect in Israel. For a deceased who lived abroad, foreign probate orders are not recognised. Israeli banks and the Land Registry act only on an order issued in Israel: a succession order where there is no will, or a probate order where there is one, from the Registrar of Succession Matters. The Succession Law 5725-1965 gives Israeli authorities jurisdiction over any estate that left assets in Israel.
2. Distribution follows the law of the deceased’s last domicile. Under section 137 of the same law, the Israeli application for a foreign-domiciled deceased is decided under your succession law. In practice the Registrar often needs a short opinion on that law. We tell you exactly what it must cover, so it is written once.
3. Israel is a party to the Apostille Convention, and levies no inheritance or estate tax. Your documents travel by apostille, not consular legalisation. Israel abolished estate duty in 1981, so there is no Israeli tax to credit against yours — and, for your tax colleague, no step-up in basis at death on the Israeli asset.
What we deliver
- The Israeli order — succession or probate order from the Registrar, including the procedure for a will already lodged with a foreign court or notary, on an exemplified authenticated copy.
- Date-of-death valuation of the Israeli asset, in writing, for your own estate return.
- Transfer and release — registration of the heirs at the Land Registry (Tabu) and release of Israeli bank accounts.
- Opinion on Israeli law for your court, registry or notary, apostilled.
- Powers of attorney, apostille and remote identification, so the heirs never travel.
- Property matters for living clients — purchase, sale, registration, and the consents a renovation will need.
- Enforcement of foreign judgments and debt collection in Israel.
How the instruction works
The client or the estate instructs us directly, under a written scope and fee agreed before any work. You keep your file and your client. No referral fees, no fee-sharing, in either direction — Israeli Bar rules forbid it, and so, in most of your jurisdictions, do yours. What we exchange is work: you supply the opinion on your law that the Israeli application needs; we supply the Israeli execution your file needs.
Questions we are asked first
Can our English grant, or US Letters, be resealed in Israel? No. There is no resealing route; an original Israeli order is required.
Do the heirs have to come to Israel? No. Power of attorney, apostille and remote identification cover the whole procedure.
How long? It depends on the Registrar’s district and on whether the file is contested. We give a written estimate with the scope, not a promise.
Which languages? English, French, Hebrew and Russian in correspondence and in court.
Talk to us about the file. Direct line +972-77-806-6333 · WhatsApp +972-54-439-6444 · info@lawexcel.co.il · HaOgen 8, Herzliya. A written scope and fee before any work.