Avrum Aaron & Assoc.

If I Made a Will in the U.S., Do I Need a New Israeli Will When I Move to Israel?

This is a question many people ask after relocating to Israel: if you already signed a will in the United States, do you really need to make a new Israeli will? The short answer is often yes, but not because your U.S. will suddenly becomes invalid.

Israeli law generally recognizes wills that were properly executed in the United States. In other words, moving to Israel does not automatically cancel or void a U.S. will. From a purely technical standpoint, a valid U.S. will can usually be admitted to probate in Israel.

The problem is that legal recognition is not the same as practical usability. U.S. wills are drafted around U.S. probate concepts, terminology, and procedures. Israeli succession law works differently, and Israeli courts, banks, and land registries often require translations, expert opinions on U.S. law, and additional procedural steps before they are willing to act on a foreign will. This can slow things down and increase costs for heirs at exactly the wrong time.

Once you become an Israeli resident, the issue becomes more pronounced if you own Israeli assets. Israeli real estate, local bank accounts, or guardianship provisions for minor children are usually far easier to administer under an Israeli-law will that speaks the local legal language. In these situations, relying exclusively on a U.S. will is often inefficient, even if it remains technically valid.

The option of a U.S. trust is what I often recommend. When U.S. assets are held in a properly structured U.S. trust, those assets generally avoid probate altogether and do not need to be addressed by an Israeli will. In practice, this allows the Israeli will to remain focused on local assets and local issues, while the trust governs U.S. property under U.S. law. The trust does not replace the Israeli will; it simply reduces how much the Israeli will needs to cover.

The most common and dangerous mistake in this area is poor coordination. An Israeli will that is drafted without awareness of an existing U.S. will or trust can accidentally revoke prior documents or create conflicts that defeat the very planning it was meant to improve. This risk is far higher with generic templates or off-the-shelf wills that are not designed for cross-border estates.

The bottom line is that a U.S. will usually remains valid after a move to Israel, but validity alone is not the right standard. For many Israeli residents, a short review leads to a cleaner structure: a U.S. trust that continue to handle U.S. assets, and a focused Israeli will that simplifies matters at home. When done correctly, the result is not more paperwork, but less confusion for the people left behind.

Adv. Avrum Aaron, Esq.
[email protected]
054-398-4380

What Happens If You Die in Israel Without a Will?

Many people assume that if they pass away without a will, their assets will automatically go to their spouse or children and everything will be handled smoothly. In Israel, that assumption is often wrong.

Dying without a will — known legally as dying intestate — triggers a statutory distribution scheme under Israel’s Succession Law. That scheme may produce results very different from what you intended, and it can create serious legal and tax complications.

How Israeli Law Distributes an Estate Without a Will

If a person dies in Israel without a valid will, the estate is distributed according to fixed rules in the Succession Law:

If there is a surviving spouse and children, the spouse receives part of the estate and the children receive the rest. The spouse does not automatically inherit everything.

If there is a spouse but no children, the spouse shares the estate with the deceased’s parents, siblings, or their descendants.

If there is no spouse and no children, the estate passes to parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and more distant relatives in a strict statutory order.

If no legal heirs are found, the estate ultimately passes to the State of Israel.

These rules apply regardless of the personal relationships involved, regardless of who depended on whom financially, and regardless of what the deceased may have verbally promised during life.

The Surviving Spouse Is Not Fully Protected

One of the most common surprises is that a surviving spouse does not automatically inherit the entire estate.
In many cases, the spouse receives only part of the estate and must co-own property with the children or with the deceased’s family. This can force the sale of the family home, create disputes over bank accounts, or entangle the spouse in years of administration and litigation.
For blended families, second marriages, or families with children from prior relationships, the results can be especially harsh.

Administration Is Slower and More Expensive

When there is no will, the heirs must apply for a Succession Order (צו ירושה) rather than a Probate Order. This requires identifying all legal heirs, publishing notices, collecting affidavits, and often dealing with objections from extended family members.
The process is typically slower, more bureaucratic, and more prone to disputes than probating a properly drafted will.

Cross-Border Families Face Additional Risks

For Israeli residents with U.S., European, or other foreign assets — or foreign citizenship — intestacy creates serious cross-border problems.
Foreign courts and financial institutions may not recognize Israeli intestacy orders easily. Different countries may apply different inheritance laws. The result can be parallel proceedings, conflicting heirship determinations, delayed access to assets, and unnecessary taxation.
In U.S.–Israel families, intestacy can also trigger adverse U.S. estate tax and income tax consequences that could have been avoided with basic planning.

A Simple Will Avoids Most of These Problems

A properly drafted Israeli will:
Allows you to decide exactly who inherits and in what proportions
Protects the surviving spouse
Prevents unwanted co-ownership
Reduces family conflict
Speeds up administration
Coordinates Israeli and foreign assets
Allows tax-efficient planning
For families with international connections, a coordinated Israeli will together with appropriate foreign planning (such as U.S. trusts) is often essential.

Conclusion

Dying without a will in Israel does not mean “everything goes to the family.” It means the law — not you — decides who inherits, how much, and on what terms.
For many families, especially those with cross-border assets or complex family structures, intestacy creates unnecessary conflict, delay, and financial loss.
A simple will, prepared correctly, is one of the most effective legal protections you can give your family.

Adv. Avrum Aaron, Esq.
[email protected]
054-398-4380

One frustrating part of practicing law is when you are 100% right about something and your opposing counsel won't admit it because he/she has to pretend to believe his/her lying client.

Here’s a story that illustrates why you should consult a lawyer before starting a business:

I was contacted by man who owned an LLC formed in the US. He wasn’t a US citizen or resident, but he had recently had a levy put in his bank account by the State of California- for $60,000!

This was curious because other than his bank being in California, the business had no contact with California. I reviewed his federal tax returns and saw that he had given the IRS a California address. He did this because a relative lived there and his US bank needed a US address. So, he used the same address on his tax return.

Somehow California saw this address and assumed that the business was located in California. It wasn’t and the situation was cleared up quickly. But, this was unneeded stress- someone who knows the tax system would have simply advised the client to put his foreign address on his federal tax return and this situation would have been avoided.

Moral of the Story: Making a small mistake, like entering the wrong address, can be painful.