Quick Answer: Israel's Succession Law 5725-1965 applies the law of the country where the deceased was domiciled at death, meaning where the centre of their life was, to the estate (section 137). Israeli authorities still have to issue the order that releases Israeli assets (section 136). There is an important correction to that rule. If the domicile country's own rules send a question back to Israeli law, Israel accepts the reference (section 142). The United States and England apply the law of the place where land is located. So for someone domiciled there, an Israeli apartment usually passes under Israeli law, while bank accounts and shares follow the home-country law.

Take an American who dies in Florida owning a Tel Aviv apartment and an account at an Israeli bank. Or a British dual national who lived in London for thirty years. Or a French family whose father made aliyah late in life. Each family needs an Israeli order before any asset in Israel can move. Before that order can name the heirs, someone has to decide which country's inheritance rules apply.

The answer changes real outcomes. With no will, Israeli law gives a spouse the household contents and car plus half of the rest when there are children (section 11). In England and Wales, for deaths from 26 July 2023, the spouse takes the personal chattels and the first £322,000, then half of the remainder. French law reserves part of the estate for the children whatever the will says. If the wrong law is applied, the order names the wrong heirs or the wrong shares and can be challenged later.

1. Jurisdiction vs Governing Law

Two separate questions arise, and they often have different answers. Jurisdiction asks which country's authorities may deal with the estate. Governing law asks whose rules decide who inherits and in what shares. An Israeli Registrar can apply Florida, English or French inheritance law.

Jurisdiction is set by section 136. An Israeli court may deal with the estate of anyone who was domiciled in Israel at death or who left assets in Israel. A relative who lived and died abroad but held an Israeli bank account, an apartment or shares in an Israeli company left assets in Israel, so Israeli jurisdiction applies to them.

In practice this means an Israeli order is needed. Israeli banks, the Land Registry (Tabu) and the Companies Registrar act on an Israeli succession order (צו ירושה) where there is no will, or a probate order (צו קיום צוואה) where there is one. A grant of probate from New York or London does not on its own instruct an Israeli institution. Applications go to the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (הרשם לענייני ירושה). According to Kol Zchut, an online application cost NIS 507 in 2026, plus NIS 66 for the mandatory public notice. Contested cases go to the Family Court.

2. The Domicile Rule

Section 137 says succession is governed by the law of the deceased's domicile at the time of death, except as provided in sections 138 to 140. Section 135 defines domicile (מושב) as the place where a person's centre of life is. Minors and people with a guardian are presumed to share the domicile of their representative unless it is shown that their centre of life is elsewhere.

Domicile here is not citizenship, and it is not the place of death or the place where the property is. A dual Israeli-British national who spent the last thirty years in Manchester has their centre of life in England. Someone who moved their whole life to Israel is domiciled in Israel, and Israeli law governs their worldwide succession whatever passport they hold.

Lawyers from England need to note one point. Section 141 says terms in these sections carry their Israeli meaning. An Israeli court therefore asks where the centre of life was. It does not apply the English doctrine of domicile of origin and domicile of choice, which can produce a different answer.

In Practice: Proving the Centre of Life. The Registrar needs evidence, not just a statement. Useful documents include the deceased's registration status with the Population and Immigration Authority, foreign tax residence certificates, evidence of the main home, and records of where the spouse and children lived and where the deceased worked. Where the facts point both ways, such as someone who split the year between Florida and Herzliya, expect the question to be argued. Sorting out domicile at the start keeps a cross-border file moving.

3. Israeli Real Estate and Renvoi

Many guides say that movable assets follow domicile and Israeli real estate always follows Israeli law. The statute takes a different route to a similar result in many cases, and the route matters.

Section 137 applies the domicile law to the whole estate, land included. Section 142 then deals with what happens when that foreign law itself refers to another legal system (known as renvoi):

  • If the foreign law refers to a third country's law, Israel ignores the reference and applies the foreign country's internal succession rules.
  • If the foreign law refers back to Israeli law, Israel accepts the reference and applies Israeli internal law.

The conflict rules of the US states and of England send succession to land to the law of the place where the land is. For a deceased domiciled in Florida or London, their own law therefore points to Israeli law for the Tel Aviv apartment. Under section 142 the Israeli Registrar applies Israeli succession law to the apartment, and Florida or English law to the movable assets.

This depends on what the foreign conflict rule actually says, and that has to be proved like any other point of foreign law (see section 6 below). Some countries do not split the estate this way. The EU Succession Regulation (650/2012) applies one law to the whole estate, land included, so for a deceased habitually resident in France the reference does not come back to Israel.

4. Moshav Land and Other Situs Assets

Section 138 adds a separate exception: assets that pass by inheritance only under the law of the place where they are located are governed by that law. The usual Israeli example is an agricultural holding (nachala) on a moshav. Section 114 of the Succession Law provides that a farm which would stop being viable if it were divided passes to one heir who is willing and able to run it, and that heir compensates the others to the extent the farm is worth more than their share. The Israel Land Authority's lease terms and the settlement's rules also determine who may take over. Foreign heirs who expect an equal split of the family farm are often surprised. See inheriting moshav and agricultural land.

5. Foreign Wills: Form and Capacity

Whether a will made abroad is valid is a separate question from which law divides the estate. Section 140 is deliberately generous about form. A will is valid as to form if it complies with any of these:

  • Israeli law;
  • the law of the place where it was made;
  • the law of the testator's domicile, habitual residence or nationality, either when the will was made or at death;
  • for land, the law of the place where the land is.

A will signed correctly under New York or English formalities therefore passes the Israeli test even though it does not follow one of the four Israeli forms. Capacity to make a will is governed by the law of the testator's domicile when the will was made (section 139).

The will still has to be probated in Israel. The Registrar expects the original or a certified copy, the death certificate, an apostille on each foreign public document, and a notarised Hebrew translation. Where the deceased was domiciled abroad, an opinion on the foreign law is usually needed as well. More detail is in probating a foreign will in Israel.

6. Proving Foreign Law in Israel

Israeli courts treat foreign law as a question of fact. It is proved by an expert opinion (חוות דעת על דין זר) from a lawyer qualified in that system. The opinion sets out who inherits under that law and in what shares and attaches the relevant provisions. Where renvoi matters, it should also state the foreign conflict rule, for example that Florida refers succession to land to the law of the place where the land is.

If no one proves the foreign law, an Israeli court generally presumes it is the same as Israeli law. Families sometimes rely on that presumption to save the cost of an opinion. It is a risky shortcut where the foreign rules are clearly different, such as forced heirship, and an heir who loses out can later ask to amend the order. The Registrar can decide an uncontested application on the basis of the opinion. If the foreign-law question is disputed, the file goes to the Family Court (בית המשפט לענייני משפחה).

7. Scenarios and Planning

  • Domiciled in Florida, with a Tel Aviv apartment and an Israeli bank account. Israel has jurisdiction because the assets are in Israel. Florida law governs the bank account. For the apartment, Florida's conflict rule points to Israeli law, so under section 142 Israeli succession law applies to it. The family files a Florida-law opinion that covers both points.
  • Domiciled in London, no will. English intestacy rules govern the movable assets in Israel, including the £322,000 statutory legacy for the spouse. The Israeli apartment is likely to pass under Israeli intestacy rules through the same renvoi analysis. One family can end up with two distribution patterns.
  • Habitually resident in Paris. Israeli law points to French law. French law, applying the EU Succession Regulation, governs the whole estate, the Israeli apartment included. The children's reserved share (réserve héréditaire, article 913 of the French Civil Code: half for one child, two thirds for two, three quarters for three or more) can limit what a will leaves to a spouse or charity. A testator with Israeli citizenship can choose Israeli law for the succession in the will (Article 22 of the Regulation). French rules then refer to Israeli law, and section 142 makes an Israeli court accept that reference.
  • Made aliyah and now living in Israel. Israeli law governs the whole worldwide succession under section 137. Some foreign assets may still be dealt with under local rules in the countries where they are, so the foreign side needs its own advice.

For anyone with assets in more than one country, the planning lessons follow from these rules:

  • Coordinate the wills in each country instead of drafting them separately. A separate Israeli will covering only Israeli assets speeds up Israeli probate. Its revocation clause must not cancel the foreign will, and the foreign will must not cancel the Israeli one.
  • Where a forced-heirship law may apply, plan around the reserved shares. A will cannot simply override them.
  • Keep a record of where the centre of life is. If domicile is in doubt, it is much easier to document while the person is alive.
  • Review the plan after a move. Relocating from London to Jerusalem can change the governing law under section 137 and undo a plan that was correct when it was written.