Do heirs living abroad have to come to Israel? An Israeli succession or probate order from abroad, step by step

Succession · October 15, 2026 · 8 min read

The short answer

No one has to fly in. An Israeli succession order (צו ירושה, no will) or probate order (צו קיום צוואה, with a will) is obtained from the Registrar of Inheritance on an online application that a represented applicant’s Israeli lawyer must file electronically (regulation 14(d) of the Succession Regulations). What the heir abroad signs — the applicant’s declaration, a power of attorney, and any renunciation of a share — is signed before an Israeli consul, who may exercise the powers of a notary abroad (section 50A of the Notaries Law), or before a local notary with an apostille. The other heirs receive notice by registered mail; their consent is not required (regulation 14(b)(4)). The order itself is digital: the Registrar e-mails it to the lawyer and transmits it to the banks, the Land Registry and the Tax Authority. Three things do require attention from abroad: the death must be registered in Israel if it happened elsewhere, an original will abroad has a new route since 2023, and a parent who was domiciled abroad changes which law the order is made under. All three are below.

1. Which order, and who decides it

Section 66(a) of the Succession Law lets the Registrar of Inheritance declare the heirs’ rights: by succession order where there is no will, by probate order where there is one; a will covering only part of the estate produces both (section 66(b)). Section 39 is the reason an order is unavoidable — no right may be claimed under a will until a probate order has been granted — and section 71 is the reason it suffices: both orders bind "the whole world" until amended or cancelled. A probate order or letters issued abroad do not replace this: the Supreme Court held in CA 598/85 כהנא that a foreign succession order is not enforceable in Israel as a foreign judgment. Israeli assets move on an Israeli order only. If you are not yet sure which order your situation needs, or whether an order is needed at all, start with the decision guide.

2. What changed in 2023 — and why older pages are wrong

Amendment 18 to the Succession Law (enacted in the Economic Plan Law 2023–2024, in force 1 July 2023) repealed three of the grounds on which the Registrar had to transfer a file to the Family Court: an oral will, a will with a formal defect under section 25, and a deceased to whose estate the private-international-law chapter applies — that is, a deceased domiciled abroad. Those grounds are gone from section 67A(a). What remains is an objection, the State as a party, the Attorney General joining, the Administrator General representing an heir, and the Registrar’s own discretion. The practical effect, visible in the Administrator General’s 2025 activity report: of 1,197 applications concerning foreign-resident deceased closed in 2025, 33 were transferred to court; across all files, 98 per cent were decided by the Registrar. English-language pages that say "a foreign will almost always means the Family Court" or "the file is transferred when the deceased lived abroad" describe the law before July 2023. The same amendment added the foreign-probate route in section 68(b), described in section 5 below, and the Regulations were amended in 2024 to abolish newspaper publication: notice of an application now appears on the Administrator General’s website and in Reshumot only (regulation 17(a)).

3. The sequence from abroad

1. Register the death in Israel if it occurred abroad. The Registrar draws the death of an Israeli resident from the Population Registry and does not need a certificate; an Israeli citizen who died abroad must first be recorded there through the consulate or the Ministry of Interior. For a non-Israeli deceased, a foreign death certificate "duly certified" (regulation 14(b)(2)) — apostilled, with a notarised translation unless it is in English.
2. Search the register of deposited wills at the Registrar (section 73D). A will deposited in Israel that nobody has applied on triggers a notice to the beneficiaries three months after the death (section 76).
3. Establish the deceased’s domicile at death. Israel: Israeli law, no foreign-law opinion. Abroad: section 137 applies the law of the domicile, an expert opinion on that law is required, and the application is filed in the district where the Israeli assets are (regulation 13(a)). "Domicile" means the centre of life (section 135) — not citizenship, and there is no "five-year rule"; pages that key the opinion to citizenship are mistaken.
4. Sign the power of attorney and the declaration abroad. Before an Israeli consul, who may exercise notarial powers under section 50A of the Notaries Law and under section 7(5) may "receive and certify an affidavit" — no apostille is then needed — or before a local notary, with an apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention, to which Israel has been a party since 1978. A power of attorney made abroad under local law is exempt from the Israeli notarial-form requirement (section 20(b)). The consul cannot take an affidavit in a language he does not read: a Hebrew text, or a translation with a translator’s affidavit, is brought along.
5. Renunciation, if any. An heir who wishes to waive a share in favour of the deceased’s spouse, child or sibling does so by affidavit under section 6 and regulation 16, signed the same way. A renunciation by or for a minor or a person under guardianship needs court approval (section 6(c)).
6. Notice to the other heirs or beneficiaries on the prescribed forms, by registered mail or personal delivery with an affidavit (regulation 14(b)(4)). Where no close relative is a beneficiary, notice also goes to the deceased’s children or spouse, failing them parents, failing them siblings. Deemed service: the tenth day after posting (regulation 52).
7. File online. Mandatory for represented applicants (regulation 14(d)); the original will, where it is in Israel, is delivered to the Registrar within seven days of filing. Fee and publication costs are paid at filing (regulation 14(b)(6)).
8. Publication and the objection window. The Registrar publishes on the Administrator General’s website and in Reshumot and fixes a period "not less than two weeks" for objections (section 67; regulation 17(a)). Anyone interested may object within it — and, under section 67, as long as the order has not yet been granted; the Registrar may extend the period even after it has expired (regulation 19(b)).
9. Review. Most files are examined by an Assistant Registrar. Some must go to the Attorney General’s representative at the Administrator General (regulation 54(a1)): where no beneficiary is a child, descendant, parent or spouse of the deceased; where an heir is an absentee, under guardianship or under an activated lasting power of attorney; where the will is oral or has a formal defect; where it benefits a public purpose. That representative has 45 days from service to respond (regulation 54(b)). This is the source of the "45 days" that appears on many websites as if it were the heirs’ objection window; it is not. The objection window is 14 days.
10. The order. Issued digitally (regulations 23–24) and transmitted to the Land Registry, the Israel Land Authority, the Tax Authority, the Corporations Authority, the banks and the insurers. An apostilled digital copy for use abroad can be ordered online. What the bank then does with it is in the article on the deceased’s bank account.

4. Clocks that matter

Stage	Period	Source
Objection window	14 days from publication; extendable, even after expiry	s.67; reg. 17(a); reg. 19(b)
Deemed service of registered mail	10th day after posting	reg. 52
Attorney General’s representative	45 days from service, extendable for enquiries	reg. 54(b)–(c)
Original will after online filing	7 days	reg. 14(d)(1)
Appeal from the Registrar to the Family Court	15 days	reg. 46; s.151A
Registrar’s average, 2025, complete file	~37 days succession order; ~45 days probate order	Administrator General, 2025 activity report

From abroad, the realistic span is the document-collection phase — apostilles, the consular appointment, any translation and, for a foreign-domiciled deceased, the foreign-law opinion — followed by the Registrar’s five to seven weeks. Two to four months end to end is a fair expectation for an uncontested file; an objection moves the file to the Family Court (section 67A(a)(1)) and changes the scale entirely.

5. The original will is abroad

Until 2023 an original will held by a lawyer in New Jersey had to travel, or the applicant had to ask for leave to prove the will by a copy. Section 68(b) now provides that where the original is outside Israel and cannot be produced, and a court or competent authority there has granted probate, the will need not be proved by the original if that probate order is proved as a foreign public document under section 30 of the Evidence Ordinance. Regulation 14(b)(3) lists the foreign order among the documents that may accompany a probate application. In practice: a certified copy of the foreign order with an apostille, attached to the Israeli application, with the will itself as exhibited abroad. Where no foreign probate exists, the older route — an application to prove the will by a copy, now within the Registrar’s power — remains.

6. What the Israeli lawyer needs from you

• The deceased’s Israeli ID number and, if the death was abroad, the foreign death certificate with apostille.
• The will (original, or the foreign probate order with apostille) and the names, addresses and ID or passport numbers of all heirs or beneficiaries, including those who will renounce.
• Where the deceased was domiciled abroad: the name of the lawyer in that country who will give the foreign-law opinion, and a document showing the Israeli asset (a Land Registry extract or bank confirmation) to fix the Registrar’s district.
• A consular appointment — or a local notary and the apostille office — for the power of attorney and the declaration. One sitting usually covers everything.

Two matters sit outside this article by design. What the family should do before a parent loses capacity — so that the bank account and the apartment can be managed without a guardianship — is the subject of the lasting power of attorney when the children live abroad. And anything concerning a will, trust or estate proceeding in the United States or elsewhere is for a lawyer admitted there; the firm advises on the Israeli side and coordinates with that lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Must I come to Israel to obtain a succession or probate order?

No. There is no presence requirement in the Succession Law or the Succession Regulations. A represented applicant files online through an Israeli lawyer (regulation 14(d)); the applicant’s declaration, any renunciation and the lawyer’s power of attorney are signed abroad before an Israeli consul, who holds notarial powers under section 50A of the Notaries Law, or before a local notary with an apostille.

Do the other heirs have to agree?

At the Registrar of Inheritance, no. Regulation 14(b)(4) requires proof that notice of the application was sent to the other heirs or beneficiaries by registered mail (or delivered personally). Written consent of everyone concerned is required only if the family chooses the religious-court route (section 155) or asks the Registrar to appoint an estate administrator (regulation 31(a)).

The original will is with the lawyer in the US. Must it be sent to Israel?

Not necessarily. Since 1 July 2023, section 68(b) of the Succession Law provides that where the original is outside Israel and cannot be produced, and a foreign court or competent authority has granted probate, the will need not be proved by the original if that foreign order is proved as a foreign public document under section 30 of the Evidence Ordinance — in practice, an apostilled certified copy. Regulation 14(b)(3) mirrors this.

Does an American or Canadian probate order work in Israel by itself?

No. The Supreme Court held in CA 598/85 Kahana that a foreign succession or probate order is not enforceable in Israel as a foreign judgment; Israeli assets move only on an Israeli order (sections 39, 66 and 71). The foreign order is, however, useful evidence under section 68(b), and the Israeli application attaches it.

How long does it take?

The Registrar’s published figures for 2025 are about 37 days for a succession order and about 45 days for a probate order on a complete file, after a 14-day objection window that starts on publication (section 67; regulation 17). Add the time to collect documents, apostilles and any translation. If the file is referred to the Attorney General’s representative, that representative has 45 days to respond (regulation 54(b)) — which is where the ‘45 days’ many websites mention actually comes from.

Which documents must be translated?

Under regulation 54A, a document in a language other than Hebrew, Arabic or English must be accompanied by a notarised Hebrew or Arabic translation. English documents need no translation unless the Registrar asks for one.

My parent lived in the US but owned an apartment in Israel. Is that different?

Yes. Section 137 of the Succession Law applies the law of the deceased’s domicile at death — the centre of life, section 135 — so the Israeli order is made under that foreign law, and the Registrar requires an expert opinion on it. Since 2023 such a file no longer goes automatically to the Family Court; the Registrar decides it, in the district where the Israeli assets are (regulation 13(a)). The foreign-law opinion is a matter for a lawyer in that country, working with the Israeli lawyer who files.

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. The firm does not advise on the law of any other country; questions about a will, trust or estate proceeding abroad are for a lawyer admitted there. Consult a lawyer before acting.

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