Israel.

Israel abolished its estate tax effective 1 April 1981 and imposes no inheritance, estate, or gift tax under current law. Succession is governed by the Inheritance Law 5725-1965 — a comprehensive civil-law-style statute drawing on continental European traditions. The Family Court (Beit Mishpat le’Inyenei Mishpacha) handles probate and succession matters, with parallel jurisdiction available to religious courts (Rabbinical, Sharia, Druze, Christian) for personal-status matters in some circumstances.

Israeli succession law preserves a forced-share regime for the surviving spouse under Inheritance Law sections 11–12, with statutory shares varying based on whether the decedent left children, parents, or siblings. The Land Law 5729-1969 and the Israel Land Authority register substantially all immovable property, with restrictions on transfer that affect succession planning. The Capacity and Guardianship Law 5722-1962 governs incapacity issues and was significantly reformed in 2016 to introduce continuing powers of attorney.

The memoranda in this series address the recurring fact patterns in Israeli cross-border estate planning — including the Israeli statutory share for surviving spouses, the Family Court versus Rabbinical Court jurisdiction question, real-property succession through the Land Registry, capital-gains liability on inherited foreign assets under the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance, and the absence of estate-tax treaties with Canada and the United States despite the substantial Israeli-Canadian and Israeli-American populations.