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Succession Law, 5725-1965

חוק הירושה, תשכ"ה-1965

Published: 1965-02-10Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2025-01-01 · Last amended 2024-07-07✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

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Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Chapter III: Succession by Will

Section A: Form of Will

Forms of Will§
18.

A will is made in handwriting, by witnesses, before an authority, or orally.

Holograph Will§
19.

A holograph will shall be written entirely in the handwriting of the testator, shall bear a date written in his hand, and shall be signed by him.

Will by Witnesses§
20.

A will by witnesses shall be in writing, shall be dated, and shall be signed by the testator before two witnesses after he has declared before them that this is his will; the witnesses shall confirm at the same occasion, by their signatures on the face of the will, that the testator declared and signed as aforesaid.

Deposit of Will§
21.
(a)A person who has made a holograph will or a will by witnesses may deposit it with the Registrar of Inheritance Matters; the deposit shall be effected by the delivery of the will by the testator himself to the Registrar of Inheritance Matters.
(b)A will that has been deposited and kept in deposit pursuant to this section until the death of the testator shall constitute prima facie evidence that the person named therein as testator made the will and that it was made no later than the date of deposit.
(c)Nothing in this section shall derogate from the right of the testator to retrieve at any time a will that he has deposited.
Will before Authority§
22.
(a)A will before an authority shall be made by the testator by stating the contents of the will orally before a judge, a registrar of a court, or the Registrar of Inheritance Matters, or before a member of a religious court, within the meaning thereof in section 155, or by submitting the contents of the will in writing, by the testator himself, to a judge or a registrar of a court, the Registrar of Inheritance Matters, or a member of a religious court as aforesaid.
(b)The contents of the will as recorded by the judge, the registrar of the court, the Registrar of Inheritance Matters, or the member of the religious court, or as submitted to him, shall be read before the testator; the testator shall declare that this is his will; and the judge, the registrar of the court, the Registrar of Inheritance Matters, or the member of the religious court shall confirm by his signature on the face of the will that it was read and that the testator made the declaration as aforesaid.
(c)Where the will was written in a language that the testator does not understand, it shall be read before him in translation into a language that he understands, and the translator shall attest to this on the face of the will.
(d)The reading of the will or its translation before the testator may be replaced by the reading of the will or the reading of the translation thereof by the testator himself.
(e)A will made before an authority may be deposited with the Registrar of Inheritance Matters.
(f)A will before an authority shall constitute prima facie evidence that the person named therein as testator made the will and that it was made on the day and at the place named therein as the day and place of its making.
(g)For the purposes of this section, a notary has the same status as a judge.
Oral Will§
23.
(a)A person on his deathbed, and likewise a person who, in circumstances justifying it, regards himself as facing death, may bequeath orally before two witnesses who understand his language.
(b)The words of the testator, with a note of the day and of the circumstances of the making of the will, shall be recorded in a memorandum to be signed by the two witnesses and deposited by them with the Registrar of Inheritance Matters; the recording, signing, and deposit as aforesaid shall be effected as soon as possible after they can be carried out.
(c)An oral will is void after the lapse of one month following the passing of the circumstances that justified its making, provided the testator is still alive.
Disqualification of Witnesses§
24.

A minor and a person who has been declared legally incompetent are not competent to be witnesses to the making of a will under this Section.

Probate of Will Notwithstanding Defect or Omission in Form§
25.
(a)Where the essential elements of a will are present and the Registrar of Inheritance Matters or the court, as the case may be, has no doubt that the will reflects the free and genuine intention of the testator, he may, by a reasoned decision, give effect to the will even if a defect has occurred in one of the particulars or in one of the procedures set out in sections 19, 20, 22, or 23, or in the competence of the witnesses, or where one of the said particulars or procedures is absent.
(b)In this section, "the essential elements of a will" are:
(1)in a holograph will as referred to in section 19 — the will is written entirely in the handwriting of the testator;
(2)in a will by witnesses as referred to in section 20 — the will is in writing and the testator brought it before two witnesses;
(3)in a will before an authority as referred to in section 22 — the will was stated before an authority or submitted to an authority by the testator himself;
(4)in an oral will as referred to in section 23 — the will was stated by the testator himself before two witnesses who understand his language at a time when he was on his deathbed or at a time when he regarded himself, in circumstances justifying it, as facing death.

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Section B: Validity of Will

Testamentary Capacity§
26.

A will made by a minor or by a person who has been declared legally incompetent, or made at a time when the testator did not know how to distinguish the nature of a will, is void.

Freedom to Bequeath§
27.
(a)An undertaking to make a will, to change it, or to revoke it, or not to do any of these, has no effect.
(b)A provision of a will that negates or restricts the right of the testator to change the will or to revoke it is void.
Will as Personal Act§
28.
(a)A will may only be made by the testator himself.
(b)A provision of a will that makes its validity contingent upon the wish of a person other than the testator is void.
Delegation of Determination and Power of Selection§
29.

A testator may not delegate to another the determination of the person who shall benefit from the estate or the determination of the proportionate share or the portion that a person shall receive; however, if the testator specified in the will persons from among whom a beneficiary is to be chosen, or specified assets from among which a portion is to be chosen, the person appointed thereto by the testator in his will may make the selection; and if the testator did not so appoint, or if he did appoint but the selection was not made within a reasonable time, the court or a person appointed by the court shall make the selection.

Duress, Threat, etc.§
30.
(a)A provision of a will made as a result of duress, threat, undue influence, artifice, or fraud is void.
(b)A provision of a will made as a result of mistake — if it is possible to determine with certainty what the testator would have directed in his will but for the mistake, the court shall correct the wording of the will accordingly; if this cannot be done, the provision of the will is void.
Non-revocation of Defective Will§
31.

Where a year has passed from the day on which the duress, threat, undue influence, or artifice ceased to operate upon the testator, or from the day on which the testator became aware of the fraud or the mistake, and it was within the power of the testator to revoke the will and he did not do so, that defect shall no longer be capable of voiding or correcting the provision of the will.

Clerical Error, etc.§
32.

Where a clerical error or an error in the description of a person or of an asset, in a date, a number, a calculation, or the like, has occurred in a will, and it is possible to determine with certainty the true intention of the testator, the error shall be corrected by the Registrar of Inheritance Matters, or by the court where the matter has been transferred to it pursuant to section 67a.

Obscure Will, etc.§
33.

A provision of a will from which it cannot be discerned to whom the testator bequeathed or what he bequeathed, or whose meaning cannot be understood, is void.

Unlawful Will, etc.§
34.

A provision of a will whose execution is unlawful, immoral, or impossible is void.

Will in Favour of Witnesses, etc.§
35.

A provision of a will, other than an oral will, that confers a benefit upon the person who drafted it, or who was a witness to its making, or who otherwise took part in its drafting, and a provision of a will that confers a benefit upon the spouse of any of those persons, is void.

Revocation by Testator§
36.
(a)A testator may revoke his will, either by express revocation in one of the forms for making a will, or by destruction of the will; where the testator has destroyed the will, it is presumed that he intended thereby to revoke it.
(b)A new will, even if it does not expressly revoke a prior will, shall be deemed to revoke the prior will to the extent that the provisions of the new will are inconsistent with the provisions of the prior will, unless the new will contains nothing more than an addition to what is stated in the prior will.
Application§
37.

For the purposes of this Section, "provision of a will" includes the will in its entirety, a part thereof, and any of its conditions.

Partial Invalidity of Will§
38.
(a)Where a will prescribes an unlawful, immoral or impossible matter as a condition of a benefit or as an obligation under section 45, the condition or obligation is void, and this shall not invalidate the benefit that was conditional or upon which the obligation was imposed.
(b)Where a part, provision or condition of a will becomes void otherwise than as provided in subsection (a), this shall not invalidate the remaining parts, provisions or conditions thereof, except to the extent that the court considers them to be inextricably linked to that which is void or that the testator would not have wished them without it.
Requirement of Probate Order§
39.

No rights under a will may be claimed and no document shall be treated as a will unless a probate order has been granted in respect thereof in accordance with the provisions of Chapter V.

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Section C: Provisions of the Will

Subject Matter of Will§
40.

A person may bequeath to one or more persons—

(1)the whole of his estate or a proportionate share of his entire estate;
(2)an asset from the assets of his estate or a benefit from his estate (in this Law — a bequest).
Heir in Place of Heir§
41.
(a)A testator may bequeath to two persons on condition that the second shall take if the first does not take; the second shall take if the first died before the testator, or is found to be disqualified from inheriting, or has waived his entitlement otherwise than for the benefit of the spouse, child or sibling of the deceased.
(b)Where the second takes, his position shall be as that of a person to whom the testator bequeathed in the first instance.
(c)In this manner the testator may also bequeath to more than two persons.
Successive Heirs§
42.
(a)A testator may bequeath to two persons on condition that the second shall take after the first has taken; the second shall take upon the death of the first, or upon the fulfilment of the condition, or upon the arrival of the date fixed for that purpose in the will, whichever is the earlier.
(b)The first may deal with what he has received as his own, and the second shall take only what the first has left; however, the first may not diminish the right of the second by means of a will.
(c)The second shall take if he was qualified to inherit from the testator at the time of his taking, even if he was not so qualified at the time of the testator's death; if the second dies before the time of his taking, or is found to be disqualified from inheriting, or has waived his entitlement, the testamentary provision in his favour is cancelled.
(d)A testamentary provision of this kind in favour of more than two persons is void, except for a provision in favour of a person who was alive at the time the will was made.
Heir Subject to Suspensive Condition§
43.
(a)A testator may provide that an heir shall take upon the fulfilment of a condition or upon the arrival of a date.
(b)If the condition has not been fulfilled or the date has not arrived before the death of the testator, the estate shall be administered by an estate administrator until the condition is fulfilled or the date arrives or until it becomes clear that the condition can no longer be fulfilled; the same applies where the testator bequeathed to a corporation that is not yet qualified to inherit in accordance with section 4.
(c)If the testator has not prescribed who shall take if it becomes clear that the condition can no longer be fulfilled, the heirs at law shall take.
Heir Subject to Resolutive Condition§
44.
(a)A testator may provide that an heir shall cease to take upon the fulfilment of a condition or upon the arrival of a date.
(b)If the testator has not prescribed who shall take upon the fulfilment of the condition or upon the arrival of the date, the heirs at law shall take as heirs after that heir in accordance with the provisions of section 42.
Obligations of Heir§
45.

A testator may direct in his will that an heir shall be obliged to do, or to refrain from doing, something in respect of what he has received from the estate; fulfilment of such an obligation may be demanded by any person interested in its fulfilment, and where the matter is of public interest — also by the Attorney General or his representative.

Will and Intestate Succession§
46.

Where a testator has bequeathed a proportionate share of his entire estate to one of his heirs at law, that share shall come in lieu of what that heir is entitled to under the law of intestate succession and not in addition thereto.

Bequest and Share in Estate§
47.

Where a testator has bequeathed a bequest to a person who is an heir at law or who takes a proportionate share of the entire estate under the will, the bequest shall be in addition to the share in the estate and not in lieu thereof.

Heirs Whose Shares Are Not Fixed§
48.

Where a testator has bequeathed to several persons and has not fixed their respective shares, they shall divide equally.

Substitute of Beneficiary under Will§
49.
(a)Where a beneficiary under a will dies before the testator and the testator has not designated another person to take in his place — if at the time of the testator's death descendants of that beneficiary survive, they shall take in accordance with the rules of distribution applicable to intestate succession; in every other case the testamentary provision in favour of that beneficiary is cancelled.
(b)Where a beneficiary under a will who is a child or a descendant of a child of the deceased is found to be disqualified from inheriting and leaves children, the children shall take in his place, unless the testator has designated another person to take in their place; however, the court may determine that the children shall not take in place of the person disqualified from inheriting if it is satisfied that it was the intention of the deceased that they should not take.
(c)Where a beneficiary under a will who is not a child or a descendant of a child of the deceased is found to be disqualified from inheriting and leaves children, the children shall not take in his place, unless the testator has provided otherwise; however, the court may determine that the children shall take in place of the person disqualified from inheriting if it is satisfied that it was the intention of the deceased.
Disqualified Beneficiary and Beneficiary Who Has Waived§
50.

Where a beneficiary under a will is found to be disqualified from inheriting or has waived his entitlement otherwise than for the benefit of the spouse, child or sibling of the deceased, and the testator has not designated another person to take in his place, the testamentary provision in his favour is cancelled, unless the court has determined otherwise under section 49.

Bequest of Specific Asset§
51.
(a)Where a testator has bequeathed a specific asset, the beneficiary shall take it as the asset stood at the time of the testator's death.
(b)The beneficiary is not entitled to demand from the other heirs the discharge of a charge with which the asset was charged by the testator.
(c)The beneficiary is not entitled to compensation from the other heirs if at the time of the testator's death the asset was not among his assets.
(d)The fruits of the asset and the outgoings in respect thereof up to the time of the testator's death are for the account of the estate; from that time onwards they are for the account of the beneficiary, unless the beneficiary took the asset at a later date.
Bequest of Unspecified Asset§
52.

Where a testator has bequeathed an unspecified asset, the beneficiary is entitled to an asset of a medium quality.

Subordination to Provisions of Will§
53.

The provisions of sections 41 to 52, except section 42(d), apply to the extent that the will does not contain other provisions.

Interpretation of Will§
54.
(a)A will shall be interpreted according to the intention of the testator as it may be inferred from the will, and to the extent it cannot be so inferred — as it may be inferred from the circumstances.
(b)Where a will is open to different interpretations, the interpretation that gives it effect is preferable to an interpretation under which it is void.
(c)A will may be expressed in the language of a gift, a waiver or an acknowledgment, or in any other language.
Quasi-Will§
55.

Where a man and a woman are living together as a family in a shared household but are not married to each other, and one of them dies and at the time of his death neither of them was married to another person, the survivor shall be regarded as if the deceased had bequeathed to him what the survivor would have received by way of intestate succession had they been married to each other, and this applies where there is no other provision, express or implied, in the will left by the deceased.

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