Does an Israeli succession order list the deceased's assets?
The order is declaratory in nature. Sections 66 to 71 of the Succession Law empower the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs to declare the identity of the heirs and the size of each share once the statutory notice period has passed without objection. The same is true of a probate order (tzav kiyum tzava'a), which confirms that a will is valid without cataloguing what the will disposes of. An official inventory appears only when the court appoints an estate administrator (menahel izavon), who must give the heirs a sworn inventory of the estate's assets and debts within 60 days of appointment, unless the heirs agree to a different date, after lodging a copy with the Administrator General (Section 84(a) of the Succession Law 5725-1965). Most straightforward estates never reach that stage, so no inventory is ever produced.
For a foreign heir this shifts the whole burden of tracing the estate onto the family. Israeli banks will not confirm whether an account exists until an order is produced, and no single register shows everything the deceased owned. The workable route is to run the free national search for pension, provident and life insurance holdings, order a land registry extract against the deceased's identity number, and write to every bank the family suspects. Each institution then wants its own certified copy of the order, usually with an apostilled translation when the heir applies from abroad. Budget several months for this stage, because it commonly takes longer than obtaining the order itself.
- Governing law: Sections 66–71, Succession Law 5725-1965
- Competent authority: Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (Rasham LeInyanei Yerusha), Ministry of Justice
- What the order states: each heir's full name, identity or passport number and fractional share, plus the date and place of death
- Fees: approximately NIS 500 for the application, plus approximately NIS 130 for the statutory newspaper notice (2026)
- Timeline: an unopposed order is normally issued 3 to 8 weeks after the 14-day objection period closes
- Asset search: the state operates a free national search (Har HaBituach) covering pension funds, provident funds and life insurance policies
From the full guide: Succession Orders in Israel: What They Are and How to Obtain One
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