Who inherits without a will in Israel?

The spouse takes the shared household belongings (the family's furniture, appliances and car) and half of the estate. The children share the other half equally, whether they come from this marriage or another.

With no children, the spouse shares with the parents or with the siblings; with none of them, the spouse takes everything.

Children first; then the parents and their descendants (the siblings); then the grandparents and their descendants. If there is no heir, the estate goes to the State.

A partner who lived with the person as a couple can be treated as a spouse for inheritance if the couple were living together as one household, but the law and the courts' practice on this are detailed. Take advice.

There is no forced share, but a court can order provision for a dependant, and the spouse's rights under the marital property law are settled first.

Israeli law applies to the estate of a person who last lived in Israel. Religious courts can decide inheritance by consent of the heirs.

• Published sources disagree on how the personal effects are treated. Check the Succession Law, 1965, or an Israeli lawyer.

Israel belongs to the Mixed: civil and common law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the Israel legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Israel? →

• Knesset: the Succession Law, 1965