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Inheritance & Probate

Can an Israeli court probate a will that has a technical defect, such as a missing date?

Often yes. Section 25 of the Succession Law 5725-1965 allows a Family Court to uphold a will despite a defect or omission in its form, provided the court has no doubt that the document genuinely reflects the testator's free and true wishes. The rescue power is limited. Since the 2004 amendment, the will must still contain the core elements the statute demands for its type. A missing date, an unstated witness address, or a wrongly worded attestation clause are usually curable, while a witnessed will signed in front of only one witness generally is not.

The Succession Law recognises four kinds of will: handwritten, witnessed, made before an authority, and oral. Each carries its own list of formal requirements, and a document that misses one of them is defective on its face. Section 25 exists because Israeli judges were unwilling to defeat a clear testamentary intention over paperwork. The court weighs the evidence and asks a single question: is there any doubt that this document is the authentic will of the deceased. Only when the answer is no can the defect be forgiven, and the burden sits squarely on the person asking for probate.

The 2004 amendment drew a line that matters enormously for foreign families. Cosmetic failures can be cured, but the statutory backbone of each will type cannot be supplied by the court. For a standard witnessed will that backbone is a written document that the testator signed or declared in front of two witnesses. Lose a witness and Section 25 will not save the will. There is also a procedural trap: the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs has no power to apply Section 25, so a defective will must be transferred to the Family Court, which adds months and legal costs to what heirs expected to be a routine filing.

⚖ In Practice
  • Governing law: Section 25, Succession Law 5725-1965, as narrowed by Amendment 11 of 2004; formal requirements in Sections 19, 20, 22 and 23
  • Competent authority: Family Court (Beit Mishpat LeMishpacha) only; the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (Rasham HaYerushot) must transfer the file
  • Usually curable: missing date, missing witness address, defective attestation wording, witnesses who signed on a separate page
  • Usually fatal: only one witness to a witnessed will, a typed will the testator never signed, a handwritten will not written entirely in the testator's own hand
  • Fees: probate application to the Registrar approximately NIS 500 to 600 plus a publication levy of roughly NIS 130 (2026); a contested Section 25 hearing in the Family Court adds separate court fees
  • Timeline: 3 to 6 months for an uncontested probate; 9 to 18 months once a file moves to the Family Court under Section 25

From the full guide: Israeli Will Requirements: What Makes a Will Valid in Israel

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Get a Free Consultation with Adv. Eli ShimonyPrepared under the direction of Adv. Eli Shimony, Eli Shimony Law Office · Editorial policy

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