IsraelLawDoes Israeli law give a surviving common-law partner inheritance rights?
Israeli law does not automatically treat an unmarried partner the same as a spouse for inheritance purposes. The default rules under the Succession Law govern only biological heirs and formal spouses. However, Section 55 creates a specific category — the yedua batzibur — which grants intestate inheritance rights to a cohabiting partner who lived with the deceased as if married, in a shared household, over a continuous and recognized period. This has been part of Israeli law since 1985 and has been refined significantly by case law, including the Supreme Court's guidance in CA 4/94. The entitlement mirrors what a formal spouse would receive under intestacy: household effects, the right of use of the shared apartment, and a share of the remaining estate proportional to the statutory spousal entitlement.
The Section 55 right is intestate only: if the deceased left a valid Israeli will that omits or disinherits the common-law partner, there is generally no legal mechanism to override that decision. Israel has no forced heirship for spouses or partners — unlike many civil law countries — so a deliberately exclusionary will stands. This is precisely why legal advice — and ideally a mutually considered estate plan — matters so much for unmarried couples with joint or intertwined assets in Israel. A surviving partner who finds themselves excluded from a will should consult an attorney promptly about whether unjust enrichment or property contribution claims might exist alongside the inheritance matter.
- Governing law: Section 55, Succession Law 5725-1965; refined by Supreme Court CA 4/94 Yehuda v. Yehuda
- Competent authority: Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (Rasham HaYerushoth) or Family Court (Beit Mishpat LeMishpacha)
- What must be proved: cohabitation as a couple, shared household, public recognition of the partnership — courts treat a minimum of approximately 2 years as the practical baseline, though this is not a statutory figure
- Succession order fee: approximately NIS 1,000–1,500 (2026); Section 55 claim itself carries no separate fee
- Timing: no hard statutory deadline to assert the claim, but the estate should not be distributed to other heirs before the Section 55 claim is formally registered — act within weeks of death, not months
From the full guide: Surviving Spouse Rights in Israel: What the Law Provides
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