An apartment in Jerusalem, Netanya or Tel Aviv left by a parent, heirs living abroad, and a buyer eager to sign: the situation is common, and it almost always runs into the same obstacle. Where an estate is under administration, the person in charge cannot sell on their own initiative. Prior court approval is required, and a contract signed without it puts every party at risk.
I. Why Estate Property Is Not Sold Like Any Other Asset
Until the estate has been settled and distributed, the asset does not belong to the person managing it. The estate administrator — the Menahel Izavon (מנהל עיזבון) — holds and administers on behalf of others: the heirs, but also the creditors of the estate and, where applicable, the legatees. Israeli law draws the logical conclusion: the heaviest acts, those that remove an asset from the estate or encumber it for the long term, are subject to prior judicial control.
That control applies whether the administrator was appointed on a temporary basis, pending the inheritance order or the probate of the will, or on a permanent basis. It applies equally to an executor named in the will. The capacity of the seller changes nothing: it is the nature of the act that triggers the approval requirement.
II. Which Acts Require Prior Approval
The Israeli Succession Law (Hok HaYerusha (חוק הירושה), 1965) lists, in section 97, the acts an administrator may perform only with the court’s consent. They include, in particular:
- the transfer, mortgage, division or liquidation of an apartment, as well as of an agricultural, industrial, craft or commercial undertaking;
- leases falling under tenant protection legislation;
- any act whose validity depends on registration in a statutory register — first among them the land registry, the Tabu (טאבו);
- the granting of a guarantee binding the estate;
- any other act the court decides to make subject to its approval.
One point deserves emphasis, because it consistently takes families by surprise: the unanimous consent of the heirs does not remove the need for approval. It makes the application considerably smoother, but it does not replace it. The court is not there to settle a disagreement; it verifies that the transaction is necessary, that its terms are sound, and that it serves the collective interest of the estate.
III. How Approval Is Obtained in Practice
Sequence matters as much as substance. The usual order is as follows:
- Groundwork: the administrator’s appointment is in place and the estate inventory, the Pirtat HaIzavon (פרטת העיזבון), has been filed. An asset missing from the inventory will inevitably raise a question.
- Negotiation: the price is negotiated as in any sale, but it must be capable of being justified. A valuation by a licensed real estate appraiser, the Shamai Mekarke’in (שמאי מקרקעין), is the surest way to show the asset is not being sold short.
- Conditional signature: the contract is signed subject to an express condition precedent of court approval. This is the pivotal clause of the file; its absence is the most expensive mistake encountered in practice.
- The petition: it is filed with the Family Court, together with the draft contract, the valuation, each heir’s written position and a statement of the estate’s debts.
- Other parties: where the estate includes a minor or protected heir, or where heirs remain untraced, the Apotropos HaKlali (האפוטרופוס הכללי), the Administrator General, is invited to state its position.
- Completion: once the decision is obtained, the sale can be finalised and registered at the Tabu. The tax obligations of the sale and the administrator’s duty to account follow their own course.
IV. France and Israel: Two Architectures Not to Be Confused
Heirs coming from a civil-law background naturally reason from the French model, where the notary is the pivot of the estate settlement: the notary issues the deed of notoriety and the estate declaration, and receives the deed of sale. French law also knows several forms of estate agent — the posthumous mandate of article 812 of the Civil Code, the contractual mandate agreed between heirs under article 813, and the court-appointed estate administrator of article 813-1 — whose powers remain, in principle, powers of administration: selling real property requires the heirs’ agreement or the judge’s intervention, and the rules of joint ownership add constraints of their own.
Israel is built differently. There is no equivalent of the French notary settling an estate: the inheritance order or probate order is obtained before the Rasham LeInyeney Yerusha (רשם לענייני ירושה), the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs, or before the Family Court, and it is the lawyer who conducts the entire procedure, including the petition for authority to sell. The Israeli notary is a specially licensed lawyer, whose role covers powers of attorney, certifications and translations — precisely what heirs who cannot travel need.
Two assumptions need correcting. First, EU Regulation No 650/2012 and the European Certificate of Succession do not bind Israel: a document perfectly valid in Europe confers no automatic right before the Tabu or before an Israeli bank. Second, the absence of inheritance tax in Israel does not mean the operation is tax-neutral: reselling an inherited asset raises the question of Mas Shevah (מס שבח), capital gains tax on real estate, whose treatment depends on each heir’s own situation and must be examined before signing, not afterwards.
Conclusion – Why Work With a Lawyer in Estate Administration?
Selling estate property in Israel from abroad brings together, in a single file, an Israeli court procedure, joint-ownership rules often governed by another legal system, powers of attorney to be executed and apostilled, and a capital gains position that must be anticipated. This is precisely where a firm bringing together lawyers admitted to the Israel Bar and to the Paris Bar, together with an Israeli notary, makes the difference: the petition is brought before the Israeli judge, the powers of attorney are executed in the required form, and consistency with the French side of the file is secured without an additional intermediary.
With this in mind, ABITBOL & ASSOCIES, drawing on its expertise in Israeli and international succession law, assists its clients at every stage of the administration of an Israeli estate and of the sale of the assets it comprises. Our lawyers ensure that your interests are protected and that every step is completed in full security.
13 Av Hubert Germain – Paris 16ᵉ
Tel: + 33 (0)1 78 90 03 73
Fax: + 33 (0)1 77 74 63 99
13 rue Shimon ben Shetah, 9414713, Jérusalem
Tel: + 972 (0)2 595 63 45
Fax: + 972 (0)2 591 63 26
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