In Israel, a probate order, the equivalent of a grant of probate, is a legal order that gives a will binding legal force and allows it to be carried out in practice. It is issued by the Registrar of Inheritance Matters or by a rabbinical court.
Why do you need a probate order at all?
Section 39 of the Inheritance Law provides that a will cannot be carried out, and the testator’s estate cannot be divided among the heirs according to its provisions, without a probate order (Section 39 of the Law).
It is therefore not enough to draft and lawfully sign the will. A probate order must also be obtained after the testator’s death before anyone can act on it.
The purpose of the order is to confirm that the will is valid and genuine, not forged, and that it reflects the testator’s true and free wishes.
To that end, the law allows any interested party to file an objection to an application for a probate order (just as one can object to an application for an inheritance order).
An objection to a will must rest on one or more of the many grounds for invalidating a will set out in the Inheritance Law. These include, for example, a will made under undue pressure and influence on the testator, an earlier will revoked by a later one, or a will with a technical defect (such as the absence of two witnesses’ signatures on a witnessed will).
The Family Court considers the objection and decides it on the parties’ arguments and the evidence brought before it.
If the court rejects the objection, it orders the issuance of the probate order as requested.
If the court accepts the objection, the will is invalidated and no probate order is granted for it. In that case an inheritance order will be needed, unless the court orders probate of another will, if one exists.
To read more about the different kinds of wills >> Types of Wills
How do you obtain a probate order?
To obtain a probate order, one of the heirs under the will must file an application with the Registrar of Inheritance Matters or with the rabbinical court nearest the testator’s last place of residence, and pay the fees for opening the application file and for publishing notice of the application in a daily newspaper and in the Official Gazette.
There are, however, several differences between the Registrar and the rabbinical court, as follows:
Jurisdiction
Filing an application for a probate order with the rabbinical court by one of the heirs under the will is conditional on all the other heirs under the will consenting to the rabbinical court’s jurisdiction over the granting of the order. To that end, the applicant must have all the other heirs sign the application form. By contrast, filing the application with the Registrar is not conditional on the other heirs’ consent to the Registrar’s authority, and no such consent is needed.
Whether a hearing is required
To obtain a probate order from the rabbinical court, a hearing must be held before the court in the presence of all the heirs. By contrast, no hearing is needed to obtain the order from the Registrar.
How to apply for a probate order in 2026
As of March 2026, the application documents can be submitted to the rabbinical court physically, as well as by email or fax. To the Registrar they can be submitted physically, by registered mail, or online through the Registrar’s website, as explained below:
(a) If the applicant is represented by an attorney and files through him, the attorney must file the application online only.
(b) If the applicant is not represented by an attorney and files on their own, they are entitled to file either physically or online. Online filing, however, is possible only if the original will is in the applicant’s possession or on deposit with the Registrar of Inheritance Matters, or if the applicant holds only a copy of the will together with a Family Court decision permitting the copy to be submitted.
Documents required for a probate order application
The application documents filed with the Registrar of Inheritance Matters include the application form, together with the following:
the original will; the testator’s death certificate if he did not hold an Israeli ID; proof that notice of the application was sent by registered mail to the other heirs; two vouchers for payment of the fees for opening the file and publishing the notices in a newspaper and in the Official Gazette; affidavits of renunciation, if any; and a power of attorney, if the application is filed by an attorney.
How the application for a probate order is handled
After the application is filed, physically or online, the office of the Registrar of Inheritance Matters forwards a copy to the representative of the Administrator General for a response. It also publishes notice of the application in a daily newspaper and in the Official Gazette, so that any interested party can object to the issuance of the order within 14 days of the date of publication.
The Administrator General’s representative must respond within 45 days in one of the following ways: approving the application, requesting completion of missing details, or filing an objection.
If the application is approved and no objection is filed, the Registrar orders the issuance of the probate order.
If, however, an objection is filed, by the Administrator General’s representative or by any other interested party, the case is transferred to the Family Court under Section 67A of the Inheritance Law.
In that case, the applicant is registered as the plaintiff and the objector as the defendant. The Family Court hears the case and decides it on the parties’ arguments and the evidence they submit. If the court rejects the objection, it orders the issuance of the probate order as requested. If it accepts the objection, the application is dismissed and an inheritance order will be needed instead, unless the court orders probate of another will, if one exists.
The status of the application can be tracked through the online case-tracking system on the website of the Registrar of Inheritance Matters.
How the probate order is issued
Until September 2018, the Registrar of Inheritance Matters issued probate orders in printed form.
Since September 2018, it issues digital probate orders only.
The digital order is sent to the applicant at the email address given in the application. It can also be retrieved through the personal area on the government services and information website.
The digital order is also transmitted automatically to various government bodies, including the Land Registry (Tabu), the Israel Land Authority, the Tax Authority, and the Ministry of Transportation, as well as to banks and insurance companies.
Note that today the Registrar of Inheritance Matters no longer issues printed orders, and copies of orders cannot be obtained at its offices. A digital copy of the will can, however, be obtained by submitting a request on the Registrar’s website, subject to payment of a fee.
* Updated for 2026
