Online Will

How do you order a draft will online?

1. Choose the type of will (witnessed, notarial or mutual) and the language of the will (Hebrew or English).
2. Fill in the questionnaire: personal details, family status, property, who inherits what, and special provisions. Each question comes with an explanation.
3. The main terms are shown before payment, and the full wording is in the terms of service. Pay by credit card or Bit, in a single payment.
4. Once the payment is approved, a Word file with the draft will is sent to the email address you provided, together with a signing instructions sheet.

The file is sent only after the payment has been approved. A tax invoice/receipt is sent by the office to the email address you provided within two business days. For questions about the invoice, contact the office by email: amos@il-law.co.il

What do you receive?

• A draft will as a Word file, which you can read, edit and print.
• The draft includes the details you entered in the questionnaire: the testator's details, the heirs, the assets and the provisions you chose.
• A signing instructions sheet, explaining how to sign the will before two witnesses or before a notary.
• For a will in English: the same draft, in English wording.
• For a bilingual will: one document with the Hebrew and English texts side by side.

A copy of the draft and of the details you entered is kept at the office for 10 days only, as set out in the terms of service and in the privacy policy.

What does the draft will look like?

This is the first page of a sample draft: a mutual will of spouses, with fictitious details. Each spouse inherits the other, and after the death of the last of them the two children inherit in equal shares. Every draft is worded from the answers to the questionnaire, so the clauses, length and details vary from will to will.

Before payment you see a summary of what your will provides and a partial preview of your own draft. The full draft, as a Word file, is sent after payment together with the signing instructions.

Which types of will is the service suitable for?

The service prepares a draft for three types of will under the Succession Law, 5725-1965:

• A witnessed will (section 20 of the Law): a written, dated will that the testator signs before two witnesses.
• A notarial will (section 22 of the Law): a will made before a notary. You can take the file to any notary and sign before him or her. The notary's fee is set by regulations and is paid to the notary separately.
• Mutual wills (section 8A of the Law): wills of spouses, each made in reliance on the will of the other.

A handwritten will (section 19 of the Law) must be written entirely in the testator's own handwriting, and therefore the service does not prepare it.

How do you make a will on your own?

You can make a will on your own, without a lawyer. Israeli law does not require a lawyer to draft the will. It does set clear rules for the form of a will, and a person who makes a will alone needs to know those rules and the available options. There are two main ways to make a will on your own:

• Handwritten will. Under section 19 of the Succession Law, the will is written entirely in the testator's own handwriting, bears a date written by hand and is signed by hand. There are no witnesses. A printed will, or a will written by someone else, is not a handwritten will.
• Witnessed will. The will is printed and dated, and the testator signs it before two witnesses after declaring to them that it is his or her will. The witnesses confirm this by their signatures, on the same occasion.

A handwritten will is a lawful option, but it mainly suits a person who knows exactly what to write and how. The wording is entirely up to the testator, and unclear wording may lead to a dispute among the heirs about what the testator meant. A provision in a will that does not show to whom or what the testator bequeathed is void (section 33 of the Law).

A better option is to build the will with a tool that produces an orderly, well-drafted text. Online Will is an innovative tool developed by the firm: you answer simple questions, and the tool builds a draft will in a Word file from your answers, based on the firm's will templates. You print the draft and sign it before two witnesses or before a notary, following the signing instructions that come with it.

Do you need a lawyer or a notary to make a will?

No. Any adult who understands what a will is may make a will personally. A will made by a minor, by a person declared legally incompetent, or by a person who could not understand the nature of a will at the time, is void (section 26 of the Succession Law). A will is a personal act: only the testator can make it, and a will cannot be made on behalf of another person.

A notary is not required either. A witnessed will is valid without a notary. A notarial will is an option for those who prefer to sign before a notary instead of before two witnesses.

Writing a will on your own suits a simple and clear division of property. When the situation is more complex, it is better to prepare the will in a personal meeting: see preparing a will with a lawyer.

Can the will be prepared in English?

Yes. In the questionnaire you choose whether the will is worded in Hebrew or in English. English wording is suitable for a person whose reading language is English. The testator needs to understand what is written in the will he or she signs, so it is best to choose the language that is comfortable for the testator.

The English text is the firm's own English will wording, drafted for wills in English, and not a machine translation (such as Google Translate) of the Hebrew text.

The details are entered in the language of the will: a person ordering a will in English must enter all the details in English, and a person ordering a will in Hebrew must enter them in Hebrew. Names of people and of assets appear in the draft as you typed them.

The language of the page and the language of the will are two separate choices. The language of the page sets only the language of the questions, the explanations and the email sent to you. The language of the will is set in the first step of the questionnaire, in the question "Language of the will": Hebrew, English or bilingual. So you can fill in the questionnaire on the English page and receive a will in Hebrew, and vice versa. The signing instructions are attached in the language of the will, and for a bilingual will in the language of the governing version.

Can a will be made in two languages?

Yes. Israeli law does not require a will to be written in a particular language, and nothing prevents making it in two languages in one document. In the questionnaire you can choose a bilingual will: one document in which the Hebrew and English texts appear side by side, clause by clause, and which is signed once.

What does it mean? The two texts are one will. To avoid a dispute if a difference is found between them, you choose in the questionnaire which version prevails, and the will says so expressly. The will also includes a declaration that the testator has read the governing version and understood it. So the governing version should be the one in the language the testator reads and understands well: a will that the testator did not understand may not be upheld.

What are the advantages?

• Family members and heirs who do not read Hebrew can read the will themselves, without a translation.
• A testator whose main language is English signs a will he or she understands, which also includes a Hebrew text for use in Israel.
• When an application for a probate order is filed in Israel, a document in a foreign language needs a notarized translation into Hebrew or Arabic. A document in English is exempt, but the Registrar of Inheritance may require a translation for it too (regulation 54A of the Succession Regulations). In a bilingual will the Hebrew text is already part of the will.
• When the will has to be shown outside Israel, for example to a bank or an authority, the heirs hold an English text that was signed together with the will, rather than a translation made later. Recognition of the will outside Israel depends on the law of that country.

What should you keep in mind? The details (names, addresses, descriptions of assets) are entered in the questionnaire in both languages. A bilingual notarial will is signed before a notary who reads both Hebrew and English. In a witnessed will the law does not require the witnesses to read the will: they confirm that the testator declared before them that this is his or her will and signed it. The will is longer, because every clause appears twice.

How is the will signed so that it is valid?

The file you receive is a draft. It becomes a will only after it is signed in one of the ways set by the Succession Law.

Signing before two witnesses. Under section 20 of the Law, the testator declares before the two witnesses that this is his or her will and signs it before them, and the witnesses confirm by their signatures on the will, on the same occasion, that the testator so declared and signed. A few rules worth knowing:

• A minor and a person declared legally incompetent are not qualified to be witnesses (section 24 of the Law).
• A provision of a will that benefits a witness to the will, the person who drew it up or a person who took part in drawing it up, or the spouse of any of them, is void (section 35 of the Law). The witnesses should therefore not be heirs under the will or spouses of heirs.
• The will bears the date on which it was signed.

Signing before a notary. Under section 22 of the Law, for the purpose of making a will a notary has the status of a judge. The testator submits the text of the will to the notary, the will is read to the testator or the testator reads it, the testator declares that this is his or her will, and the notary confirms this by signature. A will made before an authority is prima facie evidence that the testator made it on the date and at the place stated in it.

A person who has made a will may deposit it with the Inheritance Registrar (section 21 of the Law). If you wish, the will can also be signed at the office: see making a will and notary services.

What if I do not want my heirs to know what the will says?

There is no obligation to tell the heirs about the will or to show it to them. A person who wants to keep the contents of the will secret can deposit it with the Registrar of Inheritance, without telling anyone. While the testator is alive, the deposited will and the records relating to it are kept secret, and no information about them is given (regulation 5 of the Succession Regulations). The testator may also take the will back at any time.

After the death, the deposited will is not lost. When an application for a succession order or a probate order is filed, the Registrar of Inheritance checks the national register for a deposited will. If a will other than the one in the application is found, the Registrar notifies the beneficiaries under it, and they may object to the application (regulation 18 of the Succession Regulations). Even if no application to probate the will is filed within three months of the death, the Registrar notifies the persons entitled under the deposited will (section 76 of the Succession Law).

When there are several wills, the later will prevails: a new will revokes an earlier will to the extent that their provisions contradict each other (section 36(b) of the Succession Law). So a person who makes a new will should deposit it too.

What happens when there is no will?

When a person leaves no will, the property is divided under the Succession Law among the heirs by law: the spouse and the relatives. For example, when a person leaves a spouse and children, the spouse receives the household movables and the family passenger car and half of the rest of the estate, and the children share the other half equally (sections 11 to 13 of the Law).

A person who wants a different division needs a will. In a will you can, for example, leave all the property to your spouse and only afterwards to the children, give one heir a larger share, leave a specific asset to a specific person, or leave property to someone who is not an heir by law.

What do you write in a will?

In a will you can leave the whole estate or a proportional share of it, to one person or to several, and also a specific asset or a sum of money to a specific person. The Online Will questionnaire lets you choose among these options:

• Who the heirs are, and the share of each. If no shares are set, the heirs share equally.
• Who inherits if one of the heirs is not alive at the time of death (substitute heir).
• Specific gifts: a specific asset, such as an apartment, a bank account, a vehicle or an item, or a sum of money, to a specific person.
• Optional additional provisions, such as appointing an estate administrator.

The tool words each choice in clear and short language, and adds the standard clauses of a will, such as revocation of earlier wills.

Can a will be changed or revoked?

Yes. The testator may change or revoke the will at any time. A will is revoked by a new will that expressly revokes it, or by destroying the will. An undertaking not to change a will is not valid. Mutual wills of spouses have special revocation rules: see preparing a will.

A person whose circumstances have changed, for example a child was born, an apartment was bought or the family status changed, can make a new will in place of the earlier one.

What does the service not include?

• Personal legal advice. The draft is generated automatically from the data you entered, and no one checks the data or whether the will suits your circumstances.
• Personal assistance. The service is limited to automatic drafting of the draft, without a meeting, without fact-finding and without personal tailoring.
• A review of the property, of the Land Registry records or of bank accounts, or tax advice.
• Signing the will, witnesses, notarial certification or deposit with the Inheritance Registrar.

It is recommended to consult a lawyer before signing the will. Full details are in the terms of service.

When is it better to have a will drawn up personally by a lawyer?

An automatic draft suits a simple and clear division of the property. In the following situations it is better to have the will drawn up in a personal meeting:

• There is a business, a company or shares, or assets outside Israel.
• One of the heirs is a minor, or a person who cannot manage his or her affairs, and you wish to determine who will manage that heir's share.
• You wish to exclude a close family member from the inheritance, or you expect a dispute between the heirs.
• There are children from a previous marriage, or a prenuptial agreement that affects the property.
• There is a concern that claims will be raised about the testator's medical condition or about the influence of another person.

In such situations see making a will with Amos Ilan, Advocate and Notary.

Can the order be cancelled?

The price of the service is shown during the order process, before payment. Payment is made in a single payment, by credit card or Bit.

The draft is prepared specifically according to the details you entered and is sent immediately after the payment is approved. Therefore, once the file has been sent the order cannot be cancelled and no refund is given, as set out in the terms of service. If the file did not arrive within two business days, or has a technical fault, contact the office and it will be sent again. The email address of the office: amos@il-law.co.il