Is a written promise to leave someone an inheritance legally binding in Israel?

Israeli succession law protects the testator’s freedom to change their mind, and Section 8 enforces that freedom by treating promises about a future estate as legal nothings. A court will refuse to enforce such a promise even where both sides signed willingly, where money changed hands, and where the beneficiary relied on it for years. Section 8(b) applies the same logic to lifetime gifts that are structured to vest only on death, requiring them instead to meet the formal requirements of a valid Israeli will. Section 27 completes the picture by voiding any clause in a will that tries to limit the testator’s power to revoke or amend it. Only a will, or the statutory intestacy rules where no will exists, can move assets on death.

For diaspora families the rule usually bites in one of two ways. A parent tells the child who paid for the renovation, or who moved to Israel to care for them, that the Tel Aviv apartment will be theirs, and the promise never becomes a will. Or adult siblings sign a private family agreement carving up a living parent’s estate. Both collapse the moment Section 8 is raised. What survives is a money claim: the disappointed party can sue the estate as a creditor for sums actually spent, on contract or unjust enrichment grounds, which is a much weaker position than being an heir. Heirs do keep one lawful route after the death, an inheritance division agreement (hiskamet yerusha), but it can only be signed once the person has died.

From the full guide: Inheritance Agreements in Israel (Hiskamet Yerusha): A Complete Guide

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