A Petah Tikva Family Court has ruled that a will drawn up by a dual French‑Israeli citizen excluding his sole son from Israeli assets in favor of his second wife must be executed exactly as written.
Judge Hila Meller‑Shalev accepted the second wife’s submission, supported by a French law expert opinion, that Israeli law applies to the estate. Under Israeli succession law, testators enjoy broad testamentary freedom — including the power to disinherit children.
The dispute began in late 2010, when the decedent, while resident in Israel, drafted a will omitting his son from the country’s assets. He died about a decade later in France. A French probate ruling divided the estate between the widow and son, after which the widow petitioned in Israel to enforce the earlier will, claiming the husband intended to apply Israeli law to his Israeli property. The son contested, arguing that French law — under which his father resided at death — invalidated the disinheritance.
The court appointed an expert in French inheritance law who concluded that the testator was free under the European Succession Regulation to choose which law governed his Israeli assets, and that the 2010 will demonstrated his intention to apply Israeli law. Ruling in line with the opinion, the judge found: “What is the point of the Israeli will if not the deceased’s choice to settle his Israeli property under the Testamentary Law in Israel?”
Attorney Mia Rachel Arbel Photo: CourtesyAs factors reinforcing the judgment, the court noted the will’s use of blanket language covering all Israeli assets — consistent with Israeli liberal testation — and the absence of distinctions typical under French law between real estate and other property. The judge ordered enforcement of the will and assessed legal costs of 25,000 shekels against the son.