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Is a will created with an online will-writing service valid in Israel?

Usually not, unless it is signed the way Israeli law requires. The Succession Law 5725-1965 recognizes only four forms of will: handwritten (Section 19), signed before two witnesses (Section 20), made before an authority (Section 22), and oral in the face of death (Section 23). A document generated by an online service is simply a printed text, so it qualifies only if the testator signs it in front of two witnesses who then sign it themselves. Electronic signatures and video declarations carry no weight. Section 25 lets a court rescue a defective will, but only where the signature and the testator's intention are beyond doubt.

The Succession Law lists the permitted forms exhaustively, and Israeli courts treat that list as closed. A will written entirely in the testator's own handwriting, dated and signed, is valid with no witnesses at all. Any typed or printed will, including one produced by software, falls under Section 20 and needs two witnesses who watch the testator sign and then add their own signatures in the testator's presence. The witnesses must be adults who take nothing under the will. Nothing in the statute recognizes an electronic signature, a click-to-accept confirmation, or a scanned copy.

Foreign nationals often buy an online will package covering their whole estate and assume it reaches their Tel Aviv apartment or Israeli bank account. It rarely does. Israeli banks and the Land Registry release assets only against a probate order, and the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs inspects the physical original for the two witness signatures before issuing one. Print the document, sign it in front of two disinterested adults, and store the original where the family can find it. Safer still, sign a separate Israeli will covering the Israeli assets, so a defect in the foreign document cannot strand the property.

⚖ In Practice
  • Governing law: Sections 18–25, Succession Law 5725-1965 (Section 19 handwritten, Section 20 witnesses, Section 25 curing defects)
  • Competent authority: Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (Rasham LeInyanei Yerusha); contested files transfer to the Family Court (Beit Mishpat LeMishpacha)
  • Witness rule: two adult witnesses, neither a beneficiary nor the spouse of one; a beneficiary who witnesses forfeits the gift made to them
  • Fees: probate application approximately NIS 500–1,000 (2026), plus a publication fee of roughly NIS 130
  • Timeline: uncontested probate 3–6 months; a Section 25 application to validate a defective will typically adds 9–18 months and requires affidavits from the witnesses
  • Format: no electronic signature, PDF, or video recording satisfies Sections 19–23; the signed paper original must be produced

From the full guide: Electronic and Digital Wills in Israel: Why Your Online Will May Not Protect Your Israeli Property

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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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