Second marriages and blended families: prenuptial agreements, wills and the family home

For Families · November 4, 2026

The short answer

In a second marriage or a blended family, more than one person usually depends on the couple's decisions: the spouse or partner, each partner's children from an earlier relationship, and sometimes children they have together. Without written arrangements, the statutory rules apply: balancing of resources (izun mash'abim) under the Spouses (Property Relations) Law, 5733-1973, and distribution of the estate under the Succession Law, 5725-1965. For more detail, see A prenuptial agreement in a second marriage – what it solves and what it doesn’t, and The family home after a death in a second marriage.

A prenuptial agreement (also called a premarital or financial agreement), known in Israel as a heskem mamon, together with coordinated wills and a clear arrangement for the family home, lets the couple decide for themselves what belongs to whom, who inherits what, and where the surviving partner will live – making this clear in advance to the spouse and the children.

1. What the law provides when there is no agreement

Under section 4 of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law, marriage in itself does not affect either spouse's property, give one spouse rights in the other's assets, or make one liable for the other's debts. Under section 3, where there is no prenuptial agreement, or to the extent the agreement does not provide otherwise, the balancing-of-resources regime applies.

Under section 5(a), when the marriage is dissolved or ends on the death of a spouse, each spouse is entitled to half the value of all the couple's assets – including future pension rights, severance pay, study funds, provident funds and savings (section 5(c)). The following are excluded from balancing:

• assets the spouses owned before the marriage, and assets received as a gift or inheritance during the marriage;
• benefits paid by the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi), and benefits or compensation due by law for bodily injury or death;
• assets the spouses agreed in writing would not be balanced.

In a second family, section 5(b) is particularly significant: when the marriage ends on a spouse's death, that spouse's heirs take their place as regards the right to balancing.

2. A prenuptial agreement: form and approval

Under section 1 of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law, a prenuptial agreement, and any change to it, must be in writing. Section 2 sets out who approves or authenticates it, depending on when it is signed:

Under section 2(b), approval is given only once the court is satisfied that the spouses made the agreement freely and understood its meaning and consequences. A notary authenticates an agreement subject to the same test (section 2(c1)).

3. What a prenuptial agreement can cover in a second family

• What stays separate and what is shared. A home one partner brings into the relationship, savings, pension rights and a share in a business – and what will be treated as shared from now on (sections 3 and 5(a)(3) of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law).
• What happens when the marriage ends on a death. What the surviving spouse receives, and what passes to the heirs.
• A home or an income for the spouse. In Family Matters Leave to Appeal (Bam) 1811/20 (13 April 2021), the Supreme Court denied leave to appeal, leaving in force a clause in a court-approved prenuptial agreement under which rent from a property owned by the couple would be paid to the widow for the rest of her life. The clause was held not to be an agreement concerning inheritance within section 8 of the Succession Law, and paragraph 21 notes that a residence right for a spouse in a prenuptial agreement is a common and feasible arrangement.

4. Wills in a second family

Where there is no will, under section 11(a) of the Succession Law the spouse takes the household movables, including a passenger car, and – if the deceased left children or their descendants, or parents – half of the remainder of the estate. The rest is divided among the deceased's relatives (sections 10 and 12). Under section 11(c), what the spouse receives under the Spouses (Property Relations) Law or under a prenuptial agreement is not deducted from the spouse's share of the estate.

Under section 8(a) of the Succession Law, an agreement about a person's inheritance, and a renunciation of that inheritance, made during that person's lifetime are void; and under section 8(b), a gift intended to pass only after the giver's death is valid only if made in a will. The prenuptial agreement and the wills are therefore drafted as separate documents that fit together.

• Mutual wills (tzava'ot hadadiyot). Under section 8A of the Succession Law, spouses may make wills in reliance on each other's will. While both are alive, revocation is effective only by written notice to the other spouse, and it revokes both wills. After one spouse dies, the survivor may revoke only by renouncing what they are to receive under the deceased's will, or by returning what they have received, unless the wills provide otherwise. See mutual wills.
• “Heir after heir”. Under section 42 of the Succession Law, a testator may leave property first to the spouse and then to the children. The first heir may deal with what they received as their own, and the second takes what the first leaves; but the first cannot reduce the second's entitlement by will (section 42(b)).

For drafting, signing and depositing a will, see wills.

5. The family home

The Succession Law gives a limited right to keep living in the home:

• A transition period. Under section 108 of the Succession Law, a person who lived with the deceased in the deceased's home immediately before the death may stay on for three months, or six months if they are an heir.
• Staying on as tenants. Under section 115, the spouse, children and parents who lived with the deceased in a home the deceased owned may stay on as tenants of the heirs who receive the home. The rent, term and conditions are agreed between them or, failing agreement, set by the court.
• Division by agreement. Under section 110(d), sections 112 to 117 do not apply where the heirs divide the estate by agreement.

Couples who want a different arrangement – for example, a residence right for the surviving spouse, with the home passing to the children afterwards – set it out in a prenuptial agreement, in their wills, or in both.

6. Unmarried couples: a cohabitation agreement

Under section 55 of the Succession Law, where the couple are “a man and a woman living a family life in a common household but not married to each other”, and, at the time one of them dies, neither is married to someone else, the survivor is treated as if the deceased had left them by will what they would have inherited by law had they been married. This applies unless the deceased's will provides otherwise, expressly or by implication. Under section 57(c), the survivor is also entitled to maintenance from the estate as if they had been married. (Partners in this position are commonly known as yedu'im batzibur.)

The firm drafts cohabitation agreements (heskem chaim meshutafim) and wills coordinated with them. A cohabitation agreement is made in writing and signed by both partners. It does not have to be approved by the Family Court, but it can be submitted for approval, and approval strengthens its legal standing.

7. A prenuptial agreement signed abroad

Section 15 of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law determines the law that applies to property relations between spouses. The status of an agreement signed abroad is reviewed case by case, in coordination with your advisers abroad – see families in Israel and abroad.

8. One lawyer for both spouses

Under rule 14(b) of the Israel Bar Rules (Professional Ethics), 5746-1986, a lawyer may not represent parties with conflicting interests in the same matter. Under rule 14(d), this does not apply to drafting an agreement that the parties have agreed, in writing, will be drafted by the same lawyer. The firm therefore drafts a prenuptial agreement for both spouses only with both spouses' written consent.

Under rule 15, a lawyer who drafted a document may not later argue against its validity, and under rule 16(a) may not act against a client in a matter handled for that client. Acting for both partners is permitted, and suits mainly couples who agree on almost everything, whose financial positions are relatively balanced, and who want one lawyer to draft and record their freely expressed wishes. Where there are gaps in assets, income or bargaining power, or where either partner feels pressure or discomfort, each partner should receive separate advice.

9. What the service covers

• A prenuptial agreement before or during the marriage, or an update to an existing one, and its submission for approval or authentication.
• A cohabitation agreement for unmarried couples.
• Individual or mutual wills coordinated with the prenuptial agreement, and their deposit with the Registrar for Inheritance Matters if you so choose.
• A residence arrangement for the home, and a review of its ownership.
• A review of the beneficiaries registered with pension and provident funds and life insurance policies – see pension funds after a death.
• A lasting power of attorney (yipui ko'ach mitmashekh) for each spouse, where needed.
• Transfers of assets between the spouses or to the children – in coordination with your accountant on tax and reporting.

10. How it works

1. Mapping. A Roadmap Meeting: who is in the family, what you own and where, and what is already signed – an agreement, a will or a power of attorney.
2. Written recommendations. What is needed and in what order, with a clear written quote before any work starts.
3. Drafting, signing and deposit. Drafts reviewed with both of you, in English or Hebrew, until they reflect your wishes; a properly conducted signing; approval or authentication of the prenuptial agreement; and deposit of the wills.

Book a Roadmap Meeting

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between approval and authentication of a prenuptial agreement?

Under section 2 of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law, 5733-1973, a prenuptial agreement requires approval by the Family Court or the competent religious court. For an agreement made before or at the wedding, authentication by the marriage registrar can replace approval (section 2(c)), and for an agreement made before the wedding, so can authentication by a notary (section 2(c1)).

Can we sign a prenuptial agreement after the wedding?

Yes. Under section 2(a) of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law, 5733-1973, an agreement made during the marriage, and any change to an existing agreement, requires approval by the Family Court or the competent religious court. Authentication by a notary or the marriage registrar is not available at that stage.

Can the surviving spouse keep living in the home while it passes to the children?

Under section 115 of the Succession Law, 5725-1965, a spouse who lived with the deceased in a home the deceased owned may stay on as a tenant of the heirs, subject to sections 115(b) and 110(d). A different arrangement is made in a prenuptial agreement or in wills. In Bam 1811/20 the Supreme Court noted that a residence right for a spouse in a prenuptial agreement is a common and feasible arrangement, and under section 42 of the Succession Law a will can leave property first to the spouse and then to the children.

Can one lawyer draft a prenuptial agreement for both of us?

Under rule 14(d) of the Israel Bar Rules (Professional Ethics), 5746-1986, a lawyer may draft an agreement for two parties if both have agreed to this in writing. The firm drafts an agreement for both spouses only with that consent.

We live together but are not married. What applies to us?

Under section 55 of the Succession Law, 5725-1965, where neither partner was married to someone else, the survivor is treated as if the deceased had left them by will what they would have inherited had they been married – unless the will provides otherwise, expressly or by implication. Under section 57(c), the survivor is also entitled to maintenance from the estate. A cohabitation agreement and wills make it possible to set out a clear arrangement.

We signed a prenuptial agreement abroad. Does it apply in Israel?

Section 15 of the Spouses (Property Relations) Law, 5733-1973, determines the law that applies to property relations between spouses. The status of an agreement signed abroad is reviewed case by case, in coordination with your advisers abroad.

The above is general information on Israeli law only, current as of the date of publication, and does not constitute legal advice or a substitute for advice on your specific circumstances. Consult a lawyer before acting.

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