Wills

A will is how you decide for yourself what happens to your property, instead of letting the law decide. Despite its importance, many people put it off indefinitely. This guide explains what a will is, which types exist, and how to do it properly.

Disclosure: Educational information only. This is not legal advice. Drafting a will is complex: a lawyer is recommended. Any action you take is your own responsibility.

What a will is and why it matters

A will is a document in which a person determines how their estate will be divided after their death.

Without a will, the Inheritance Law applies and divides property according to fixed rules, usually between the spouse and children in defined shares. A will lets you tailor that division to your own wishes, giving more to one person, including parties who are not heirs under the law, or adding special provisions, and it prevents disputes between heirs.

The four types of will

The law recognises four:

Handwritten will: written entirely in the testator's own hand, with a date and signature.

Will before witnesses: in writing, signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses. The most common form.

Will before an authority: declared before a judge, registrar or notary.

Oral will (shchiv mera): only in circumstances of imminent death, before witnesses, and with limited validity.

Mutual wills

A mutual will is drawn up jointly by a couple, in which each leaves their property to the other, and usually to the children thereafter. It is very common among couples, and carries special rules about amendment or revocation, particularly after one spouse has died.

Depositing a will

You can, and should, deposit the will with the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs. Depositing ensures the will is preserved rather than lost, and makes it easier to act on later. Remote deposit is possible.

Depositing is not required for a will to be valid, but it is strongly recommended, a will nobody can find helps nobody.

Assets that pass outside the will

Several important assets do not follow the will at all, because they carry their own beneficiary designation:

Pension funds, provident funds and hishtalmut funds are paid to the beneficiaries named with the managing company.

Life insurance and managers insurance are paid to the beneficiary named on the policy.

This is one of the most common sources of unintended outcomes. A carefully drafted will can be entirely overridden by a beneficiary form completed years earlier and never updated. Review those designations whenever you review the will. See pensions, and if you suspect there are forgotten products, tracing lost money.

Wills across two countries

This is where dual-national families most often come unstuck.

The danger is the revocation clause. Wills routinely open by revoking all previous wills. Sign an Israeli will containing such a clause after a US or UK will and you may have cancelled the earlier document without intending to. Where assets exist in two countries, each will should be expressly limited to the assets in its own jurisdiction and should acknowledge that the other exists.

Two wills or one? Separate wills for separate jurisdictions often simplify probate considerably, because each can be administered locally rather than waiting on a foreign court. They must be drafted in coordination, by lawyers who each know the other document exists.

Tax is a separate question from succession. Israel has no inheritance tax, but that does not exempt a US person from US estate tax on worldwide assets. The two systems operate independently. See inheritance tax.

A note on witnesses

A beneficiary, or the spouse of a beneficiary, should not act as a witness to the will or take part in drafting it. Doing so can invalidate the provision made in their favour, a technical trap that voids exactly the gift the testator most wanted to make.

After death: the probate order

To act on a will, the heirs apply to the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs for a probate order (tzav kiyum tzavaa). The order gives the will binding force and allows the heirs to deal with banks, the Land Registry and other bodies.

If someone objects to the will, an objection is filed and the matter passes to the court.

Common mistakes

1. Putting off writing a will, and leaving the law to decide in your place.

2. Drafting an invalid will. Defects in witnessing or signature can void it entirely.

3. Not depositing it, or not telling the family, a will that disappears achieves nothing.

4. Not updating it after life changes such as marriage, divorce or a birth.

Summary

A will is how you retain control and prevent family disputes. It is worth drafting properly, preferably with a lawyer, depositing it, and updating it after life changes. See more in family and planning and the inheritance guide. We provide the knowledge: the decisions remain yours.