A family court in Be'er Sheva has ruled that a widower is entitled to half of his late wife’s apartment, despite her will leaving all her property to an animal welfare organization.
The couple had been married for 30 years and lived with their son in an apartment in the southern town of Ofakim, which was registered solely under the wife’s name. The husband said he and the son often left and returned to the home due to her psychiatric condition, which made living together continuously difficult.
In December 2006, the woman drafted a will bequeathing all her assets, including the apartment, to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). After her death, the organization obtained a probate order to enforce the will.
The widower challenged it, arguing that he had agreed to register the entire property in her name only because of pressure and threats of suicide. He claimed that, since no prenuptial agreement had been signed, half of the apartment rightfully belonged to him.
SPCA countered that the apartment was purchased with an inheritance from the wife’s parents, making it a “separate asset” exempt from spousal claims. It also argued that the husband never invested in the property, did not reside there consistently, and therefore had no right to share ownership.
Judge Rotem Kudler-Ayash rejected the claim that the home was purchased with inheritance funds, noting that the woman’s father died only after the property was acquired and that her mother is still alive. “There is no basis to this argument,” she wrote.
The court also ruled that even if the apartment were considered a separate asset, the husband proved a “specific intent to share” it. The judge cited the couple’s three decades of marriage, the apartment’s role as the family’s primary residence and renovations carried out by the husband that made the home livable.
“Although the apartment was registered entirely under the wife’s name at the time of her death, it was the couple’s marital home, purchased during their shared life together and renovated by the plaintiff, who was also the primary breadwinner,” the judge wrote. She concluded that, in the absence of a prenuptial agreement stating otherwise, the widower should be recognized as a co-owner.
The court accepted his explanation that his absences from the apartment were due to his wife’s mental illness, ruling that this should not be held against him. It determined the property was purchased with joint resources and that the wife had agreed to share ownership.
The ruling allows the widower to be registered in Israel’s land registry as the owner of half the property. As for the other half, the judge noted that a separate case is pending on the late wife’s legal capacity to draft her will. If the court decides she was not competent, SPCA could lose its entire claim to the apartment.