Spouse's Inheritance Rights

Who exactly is a spouse according to inheritance law in Israel? According to the Inheritance Law of 1965 a person is considered a spouse if he or she was married to the deceased at the time of the latter's death.

Does a common-law partner of the the deceased who was not married to him/her have inheritance rights? Yes, the Inheritance Act of 1965 gives common-law partners who meet certain preconditions equal rights to those of married spouses. If the common-law partners they were living together in a joint household, at the time the deceased died, and neither of them was married to someone else when one of them dies, then the one who survives is to receive the share he/she would have received if they had been married to one another.

Can a finding of the rabbinical court about a surviving spouse's inheritance rights according to Jewish law decide the fate of a plea for these at the family court? No! A surviving spouse's inheritance rights are based on civil law principles, the Inheritance Act of 1965, and not Jewish law. The family court has jurisdiction to rule on them according to these civil law principles, and a ruling on Jewish law cannot take away those rights.

Does the surviving cohabitee have to get legal recognition of his/her status before being able to inherit part of the deceased partner's estate? Yes! Even if it is plain to everybody, the surviving cohabitee will still have to prove his/her status, according to the criteria set in the Inheritance Law of 1965. In other words, he/she must prove that they ran a common household, without being married to one another, and without either of them being married to anyone else.

Are the spouse’s rights to moveable property related to the family home dependent on his rights in the estate? No! The spouse’s rights to these are independent of the spouse’s share in the estate, and he/she is entitled to this irrespective of the latter.

What rights , if any, does a spouse have in the deceased's moveable property (chattels) after his/her death? A spouse has a right to receive all the deceased's moveable property (chattels) belonging to the family home upon the latter's death.

What rights does the surviving spouse have in relation to the deceased's car? Absolute and sole rights to the deceased spouse's car associated with their home.

What is the position regarding inheritance if a couple get divorced and then live together afterwards? The one that survives is regarded as having inheritance rights as if they were both married to one another at the time of the deceased's death.

Where a wife disobeys a rabbinical court order to divorce her husband, and he is given permission to marry another woman, is the first wife still entitled to part of his estate after he dies? Yes, with a minor reservation. She retains the legal status of a wife, and inheritance rights in the estate, so that both wives will have equal shares in the deceased's husband's estate, but only the second wife , with whom the deceased was living in his latter years, will have a right to his chattels (moveable property) .

Is the surviving spouse still entitled to the contents of the family home if he/she was separated from the deceased at the time the latter died? No! A surviving spouse who lived separately from the deceased will not be entitled to the contents of the home , but will still be entitled to the spouse’s share of the rest of the estate.

Can extremely bad behaviour of the surviving spouse towards the deceased during the latter’s lifetime mean that he/she loses all inheritance rights to the estate? No! A surviving spouse’s negative behaviour towards the deceased does not deprive him/her of inheritance rights under law.

Does a person's estate include his or her spouse's share of joint property? No! A person's estate only contains his or her personal share of joint property, and not his/her spouse's share in it.

What comes first - a spouse's right in the estate, or estate debts? Estate debts – in other words the rights of creditors to recover their debts from the estate take precedence over the spouse's right to receive his/her share from the estate. A spouse will get his/her share of the estate only after debts on it are paid.

How can one clarify what property is not included in the estate? There is no way of doing this within the process of dividing the estate , and separate legal steps must be taken to clarify this.

Can a deceased's spouse file for his or her part of the estate due to their marital connection? Yes. The surviving spouse can bring legal action to gain his share of the estate from one of two possible sources – either the legal presumption of financial partnership for those married before 1/1/74, or the Spouses' Property Relations Act of 1973 for those married after that date.

What happens when a married couple both die, one after the other, but the one who dies second never claimed his/her part in the other's estate? The heirs of the spouse who dies second could forfeit their rights in the estate of the spouse who dies first, if the surviving spouse had a reasonable opportunity to file for his/her share of the estate, but did not do so. However, if the spouses were actually living together happily when the first of them died, then the surviving spouse is not seen as someone who had a reasonable opportunity to file for his/her share of the estate and, therefore, his/her heirs can file for this instead.

When spouses make a mutual will, does the surviving one need to file for his/her rights in the other's estate? No, because making a mutual will makes both parties aware of rights in the other's estate, and the document should relate to this .

How can a widow get her rights under her Ketuba (Jewish marriage contract)? From property in the estate only, and if there is nothing in it, then she is unable to get her 'Ketuba'.

Can a widow get her 'Ketuba' from money in a life insurance policy or other fund that her husband left? No – these are not considered part of the estate according to the Inheritance Act of 1965, and , therefore, the widow cannot claim her 'Ketuba' from them.

What is the situation regarding a widow's Ketuba when the debts on the estate are higher than the property in it? The widow becomes another creditor of the estate.

Is a woman who committed adultery or was "rebellious ", still entitled to claim her 'Ketuba' (Jewish marriage contract) from her late husband's estate? No – that is if a rabbinical court gives a judgment declaring that the wife committed adultery or was "rebellious" then under Jewish law she will lose her right to a widow's Ketuba. Without such a judgment, she will not lose her right to a Ketuba

What is a widow entitled to receive from her Ketuba after her husband's death? The main Ketuba, and additions, but these must be deducted from her share as heir in the inheritance.

How are a widow's rights to her Ketuba taken from her late husband's estate? If what is due to her from her Ketuba is less than her share of the inheritance , it will be deducted from the latter. However, where what is due to her under the Ketuba is greater than her share of the inheritance , then she is entitled to get the Ketuba instead of her inheritance.

Does "Halitza" cancel the right of a Jewish wife to get what is due to her under her "Ketuba"? No.

Can a Jewish woman give up her financial rights in her "Ketuba" , perhaps without realizing it, as part of a general relinquishment of rights? No! The relinquishment of rights under a "Ketuba" must be very clear, and express, not implicit.

Which court has jurisdiction over the actual obtaining of money due under a "Ketuba"? The family court, although all the relevant parties can give their written agreement to the rabbinical court having jurisdiction instead.

Which law forms the framework for legal debate concerning the obtaining of Ketuba money from the estate? Israeli civil law – The Inheritance Law of 1965.

Which court has jurisdiction over the actual obtaining of money due under a "Ketuba"? The family court, although all the relevant parties can give their written agreement to the rabbinical court having jurisdiction instead.

Is a widow, who is Christian, entitled to part of the estate of her Jewish husband, where they married in a civil wedding ceremony abroad, and had no children together, though he had some from his first marriage? Yes – as long as their civil marriage was a valid one, then she will have the full rights of a married surviving spouse under the Inheritance Law of 1965. She will share the estate with the deceased's children from his first marriage.

Does a widow still have rights in her late husband's savings and in an apartment, both registered in his name, if he inherited the real estate from his parents during the marriage, and made a will before a notary living all his property to his children? It would appear that the widow will be entitled to half of the savings registered in her husband's name , on the basis of her property rights through marriage under the 1973 Spouses' Property Relations Law . The deceased would be entitled to dispose of the other half as he wished in his will. However, property inherited is not joint property, so that the widow would have no rights in the apartment which her late husband inherited from his parents, even if this was during the marriage, and he would be entitled to dispose of all rights in it as he wished in his will.

Will an instruction in a father's will bequeathing the contents of the family home to his children and not his wife take precedence over any rights she may have under law regarding them? In the absence of a will ,contents of the family home pass to the deceased's spouse upon death, according to law. However, there is nothing stopping a person bequeathing his share of the house contents – which are joint marital property and in which his wife has a half-share due to property rights arising from their marital connection – to anyone else , including his children. Clearly , in practice a distinction can be made between property related to the surviving spouse's daily life and other property e.g. collections.

My wife and I married in a civil marriage ceremony abroad but never registered it at the Ministry of Interior in Israel. We have been separated for several years. Will I still be entitled to inherit if she dies? In principle, yes, subject to slight reservations. The surviving but separated partner of a civil marriage will still be entitled to inherit under law providing he was still married to the deceased at the time of her death, and the latter has not made a valid will disinheriting him. It does not matter if the marriage was not registered,or they were separated, as long as it can be proved, and technically still existed. Registration of the marriage does not create status and rights and non-registration does not negate these.

Do spouses who married in a civil marriage ceremony have inheritance rights under law vis a vis one another? Yes, they are regarded as spouses for inheritance purposes, and as such have inheritance rights under law.

Can one bequeath moveable property related to the family home? Yes, though if one has a spouse one can only bequeath one’s share in it as the spouse will be an equal owner in it.

Is the surviving spouse entitled to the deceased’s personal effects? No – the surviving spouse only has rights to t he deceased’s moveable property related to the household .

Is there any connection between a spouse’s lifetime property rights and his/her right to inherit as a surviving spouse? Yes, firstly under the 1973 Spouses’ Property Relations’ Law a spouse married on /after 1.1.74 will be entitled to half of the joint property acquired during the parties’ marriage, and his inheritance rights only relate to the other spouse’s share of the joint property. A spouse who wishes to bequeath his property to someone else can only do so regarding his/her share (50%) of joint, marital property.

Can the fact that a couple’s marriage in a civil ceremony abroad is not registered at the Ministry of the Interior actually mean that they do not have inheritance rights relating to married spouses under Israeli law? Not necessarily as registration of the marriage does not create inheritance rights and non-registration does not denote lack of them. Validity /recognition does not depend on registration.