The fastest way to issue an inheritance order
In a situation where a relative dies and does not leave behind a will, the distribution of the inheritance will be determined according to the Inheritance Law of 1965, which includes inheritance laws.
In order for the heirs to be able to receive the estate, they must issue an inheritance order through which it will be possible to decide on the rights of the heirs and divide the property.
In the review below, we will explain the procedure involved in issuing an inheritance order according to Israeli law, with the assistance of a lawyer or independently.
In terms of the procedure for issuing a succession order, it should be noted that the person authorized to issue a succession order is the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs only, who determines in the order who the heirs are and what share each of them has in the deceased’s property. The distribution of the estate can only be done through a succession order.
The three steps to issuing a succession order
The first stage
Filing the application – One of the relatives who are candidates to be heirs, such as the deceased’s spouse, children, siblings or parents, files an application at the Registrar’s Office for Inheritance Affairs in the deceased’s area of residence. The application must be submitted in triplicate and must include the death certificate, notices to the other heirs, and confirmations of delivery of the notices by registered mail.
In addition to these documents, two fees must be paid – one for processing the application and the other for its publication in the press.
The reason for this is the right to object to the request for an inheritance order, which is reserved for the other heirs and any other person, and the possibility that the objector holds the deceased’s will.
The second stage
After the application is submitted and its receipt is confirmed by the Registrar, the application is forwarded to the General Guardian for response and is published in the daily press.
Upon publication and receipt of the guardian’s confirmation that he has no objection to the issuance of the order, the application is forwarded to the registrar for approval and signing of the inheritance order.
It should be taken into account that this stage may last several months and delay the distribution and realization of the property, so it is recommended to submit the application as soon as possible.
The third stage
At this point, the heirs receive the order and can then receive their share of the inheritance from the bank where the deceased’s account was held.
The deceased’s relatives can also transfer his rights to the real estate assets to their name at the Land Registry Office.
Inheritance order to determine the identity of the heirs
The provision of Section 70 of the Inheritance Law discusses the situation in which the heir dies after the death of the testator before the inheritance order is issued, and mandates the obligation to itemize.
When submitting a request for a detailed inheritance order, President Shamgar determined that a separate procedure for determining the heirs of the heir and a procedure for determining the heirs of the testator must be conducted.
The legal way to prove the identity and rights of the heirs of the deceased is to produce a succession order regarding the heir’s estate.
The inheritance order after the death of the heir will be issued in two ways: If the applicants wish to divide the estate in a nominal manner, they must request an order that determines in detail the identity of the heirs of the heir. The order will be issued stating the names of the heirs of the heir, subject to the presentation of their inheritance order.
If the applicants are satisfied with determining the identity of the heirs of the heir in general, it is possible to state in the application that the heirs are “heirs of the deceased heir” without specifying, then the succession order will be issued with a general indication and its wording will be “heirs of the deceased heir” subject to the presentation of the heir’s death certificate.
What could go wrong on the way to receiving the order?
First, there may be an objection to the inheritance order – any person may object to the issuance of an inheritance order by filing an objection with the Registrar of Inheritance Matters within the time period allotted by the Registrar for submitting the application. This is as long as the order has not been issued.
One reason for objection is a situation where the objector is aware of the existence of Will Or on heirs at law (heirs determined in accordance with the provisions of the Inheritance Law when there is no will) who were not mentioned in the request for the order.
In addition, there may be an heir’s objection to signing a request for an inheritance order. This is when one of the relatives refuses to sign the order because he believes that dividing the property with his partners is not fair or equitable.
After receiving the request for objection, the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs forwards the objection to the court, where a hearing and decision on the objection request is held.
A second reason for delaying the issuance of the order is incorrect publication of the deceased’s details – when the public publication of the deceased’s details is incorrect, an inheritance order cannot be issued, but only after the details are corrected.
Examples from court rulings
The ruling on the issue brought before Judge H. Pizam in the Haifa District Court (7409/00, 10166/00, in the Sha’a Az 1716/98) dated January 11, 2001 demonstrates how the process of requesting an inheritance order is expressed. In addition to the request for an order, this case also describes an objection to the inheritance order.
The background to the hearing is a request filed by the respondent in this case for an inheritance order for the deceased Yefim Podgor. In the inheritance order issued in October 1998, it was decided that the respondent would be the sole heir, being the only daughter of the deceased.
Podgor Gregory, the applicant’s ex-husband, stated in that inheritance order that the will in which the deceased bequeathed his apartment to him in 1995 was invalid, since he was present at the time of signing and helped the deceased to understand it. The inheritance order was issued after the application was duly published in two daily newspapers, possible candidates for inheritance were summoned, and no objection was filed.
In April 2000, the applicant, Gregory’s ex-wife, filed a motion to annul the inheritance order, claiming that according to the agreement, after the dissolution of the marriage, she would receive Gregory’s share of the deceased’s apartment.
At a meeting in May 2000, it was agreed that the request to cancel the inheritance order would be deleted, but a day later the applicant regretted it and applied to the court to cancel her request, claiming that the cancellation of the will deprived her of receiving the deceased’s share (this share passed to the respondent according to the inheritance order).
After reviewing the data, the judge ruled that the application should be rejected. Although the applicant has a cause of action against Gregory, who broke his promise regarding the share of the property, this hearing should be held in a separate lawsuit in the competent court and not in the hearing of the inheritance case.
On the other hand, the application should be rejected on the grounds that the applicant has no standing in the inheritance case and the inheritance order was issued without objection. In addition, it was determined that the applicant (Gregory’s ex-wife) will pay the respondent (the deceased’s daughter) the application costs in the amount of 1,800 NIS plus VAT as required by law.
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