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Inheritance & Probate

When does an Israeli inheritance case move from the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs to the Family Court?

Most Israeli succession files never reach a judge. Section 67A of the Succession Law 5725-1965 lets the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs issue succession and probate orders administratively, but it also defines the situations in which the file must be handed to the Family Court. The most common trigger is a formal objection filed by an interested party. Transfer is also required when the Attorney General or the Administrator General joins the proceedings, when the will is oral or defective on its face, or when the Registrar concludes the matter needs judicial determination.

The Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (Rasham LeInyanei Yerusha) sits inside the Ministry of Justice and works as an administrative body, not a court. It reviews the application, checks that notice was published, confirms that the known heirs were served, and issues the order on the papers. Section 67A withdraws that authority in defined circumstances. Once an objection under Section 67 is filed within the notice period, the Registrar loses jurisdiction and the file moves to the Family Court for the district where the deceased was last resident. The same happens where the Administrator General (Apotropus Haklali), who must be notified when an heir is a minor or legally incapacitated, asks for the file to be transferred.

For a foreign heir the difference shows up in cost, speed, and physical presence. A Registrar file is largely paper based and can be run by an Israeli attorney holding a notarised and apostilled power of attorney, with no hearing to attend. A Family Court file is adversarial: written pleadings, at least one preliminary hearing, and often an evidentiary stage where the dispute concerns capacity or undue influence. Heirs abroad usually discover the transfer only after a sibling files an objection, so the practical protection is to instruct Israeli counsel to monitor the file from the day the application is lodged. Our guide to contested inheritance in Israel explains what happens next.

⚖ In Practice
  • Governing law: Section 67A, Succession Law 5725-1965; the objection procedure itself sits at Section 67
  • Competent authority: Registrar of Inheritance Affairs (Rasham LeInyanei Yerusha), Ministry of Justice; on transfer, the Family Court (Beit Mishpat LeInyanei Mishpacha)
  • Objection window: commonly 14 days from publication of the application in a daily newspaper and in Reshumot, and the Registrar may extend it on request
  • Fees: Registrar application fee approximately NIS 500 (2026), plus newspaper publication of roughly NIS 400; a transferred file attracts a separate Family Court fee
  • Timeline: an uncontested Registrar order commonly issues within 3 to 6 months; a transferred Family Court file typically runs 12 to 24 months
  • Practical point: the transfer decision is not the battleground, once an objection is filed the correct response is to prepare evidence rather than argue about forum

From the full guide: The Probate Process in Israel: Obtaining a Succession Order

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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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