What Happens When There Is No Will: Intestate Succession
The circles of heirs under the Succession Law, what a spouse receives, the family home rule, and the standing of common-law partners when there is no will.
When a person dies without a valid will, their property does not vanish and does not pass to the state, apart from the extreme case where there are no heirs at all. It is divided according to a fixed order set out in the Inheritance Law, 5725-1965. It is worth knowing that order, because it does not always match what the family assumes each person is entitled to.
Who Inherits, and in What Order
The Law establishes circles of heirs. The first is the circle of children and their descendants, so that if a child died before the parent, the grandchildren take that child's place. If there are no children or descendants, the next circle is the parents and their descendants, meaning brothers and sisters as well. After them come the grandparents and their descendants, meaning grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.
The Spouse's Share
A spouse has a specific entitlement. They receive the household chattels of the shared home and the family car in full, and in addition a portion of the estate: one half where the other heirs are children and their descendants or the deceased's parents; two thirds where the other heirs are siblings and their descendants or the deceased's grandparents. If there are no surviving relatives from either of those two groups, the spouse inherits the entire estate, even where more distant relatives such as uncles, aunts and cousins are alive. This is a point many people get wrong: a spouse does not always inherit "together with" someone else.
The Residential Apartment Rule
There is a further rule with major financial consequences that is not always well known. Where the other heirs are siblings and their descendants or grandparents, and the spouse was married to the deceased for at least three years and lived with them at that time in an apartment forming part of the estate, the spouse takes the deceased's share in that residential apartment in full, plus two thirds of the remainder of the estate. In a typical Israeli household this is the most significant right a widow or widower has.
A Common Mistake: Not Every Spouse Inherits in the Same Way
Many people assume the spouse inherits everything. That is true only where there are no heirs from the closer circles. In most cases where there are also children, the spouse receives a portion of the estate in addition to the chattels and the car, and the children receive the remainder. This arrangement applies to married spouses; common-law partners have a separate and more limited route.
Common-Law Partners: The Condition That Defeats Most Cases
The Law does recognize an inheritance right for common-law partners: where a man and a woman lived a family life in a shared household and were not married to each other, they are treated as though the deceased had bequeathed to their partner what that partner would have received as a spouse. But there is a decisive condition: this applies only if neither of them was married to another person at the time of death. A partner who never formally divorced from a previous marriage may discover after the fact that the right does not arise, and that is precisely one of the main reasons to make a will in situations of this kind.
FAQ
Only in that extreme case, where there is no heir at all under the Law, does the estate pass to the state. This is a relatively rare scenario, because the circle of heirs under the Law is fairly wide and includes uncles, aunts and cousins as well.
Yes. In intestate succession all of the deceased's children are equal heirs, regardless of the fact that they were born to different partners. This is precisely one of the reasons blended families consider making a will, so as to shape the division expressly.
Not identically. The Law recognizes their right, but subject to a substantive condition: that neither partner was married to another person at the time of death. In such situations, and particularly where there is a previous marriage that did not end in divorce, a will is the safe way to arrange the matter.
If you are dealing with a similar situation and would like to review the specifics of your own case, you are welcome to contact me by phone at 054-4417869 or by email at leon@sverdlov.co.il.
The content of this guide is general information only, intended to explain the legal background in accessible language. It does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for individual legal advice that takes the circumstances of the particular case into account. Nothing set out here should be relied upon for the purpose of making decisions or taking action. The law, the case law, the amounts and the deadlines may change from time to time, and every case is judged on its own facts. © All rights in the content of this guide, including its wording, its structure and its editing, are reserved to the Law Office of Leon Sverdlov. The content may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, published, translated or used for commercial purposes, in whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the firm.
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