Sally Gross
New member
Left something in a will lacking executor
I need advice as a matter of great urgency. Although I am an Israeli citizen, I was born in South Africa and live and am employed there as a citizen. My immediate family have all lived in Israel for decades. My mother died in 1971, leaving my father, my brother and his family as my closest family. On 1 October this year, my father died. In his will, he left non-monetary possessions such as there were to my brother, and whatever money there was to me. My own expectation was that there would be nothing left to come to me, but it turned out that there is a very modest amount left in a bank account.My own financial situation is very precarious indeed, largely a consequence of being mobility-impaired and having to spend far more than is sustainable every month on transport to and from work and to and from my weekly shopping. Little though there is by most standards in the bank account, by enabling me to augment my income for a few months to pay for transport I need to continue to earn a living and to have a livelihood at all, it would enable me to survive for a few months longer in a situation where my survival is tenuous because I do not own property, have significant assets or any social or familial safety nets here, and constantly teeter between just managing and street homelessness and death through exposure and starvation. I could not travel to Israel when my father died, given that health problems make such travel dangerous in the first place, and the means to pay for renewal of passports, tickets and accomodation is simply not there. My late father's will names no executor, but my brother -- who lives in the ame town as my father did -- has been dealing with matters. He informs me that the lack of an executor creates serious problems as far as retrieval of such money as there is in our late father's account and its transfer to me in accordance with his will are concerned. There is a legal procedure, apparently, which is costly and time-consuming, and is likely to eat up most if not all of the modest amount in the account. An implication, though it is something he has not stated, is that the cost could well overshoot the amount in the bank account, leaving me owing money to lawyers and to the State without any benefit whatsoever. In practical terms, the burden of the informaion seems to be that it is best to abandon what my late father bequeathed to me and to let whatever will happen to it happen to it. My own attempts at investigation of the law of succession in Israel suggest that it should be simple and straight-forward in theory at least. As I understand it, there is a National Supervisor and Registrar for Matters of Succession to whom I should presumably write concerning the matter. The fact that the will names no executor should not be an impediment: I have given my brother power of attorney. It also makes no sense that a process intended to make everything simple and straightforward, as the law appears to be on the face of it, should make it all so arduous and so costly that it is likely to make the receipt of a very modest testamentary disposition impossibly expensive -- so mu ch so that it renders it impossible to execute my late father's wishes in regard to whatever small sum of money is left. I need to know how to write to the National Supervisor and Registrar for Matters of Succession, as well as to know something about procedures and fees. As I note, what is involved is a pittance by most people's standards, but given my personal circumstances it could provide me with a few month's worth of survival. שתסלחו לי שלא כתבתי בעברית. המסר דורש דיוק, ויותר קל לי לכתוב בדיוק הנדרש באנגלית בנוגע לסוגייא הספציפי, וגם יותר מהיר בגלל חמקלדת הלועזית שלי. כל טוב שלומית (Sally)
I need advice as a matter of great urgency. Although I am an Israeli citizen, I was born in South Africa and live and am employed there as a citizen. My immediate family have all lived in Israel for decades. My mother died in 1971, leaving my father, my brother and his family as my closest family. On 1 October this year, my father died. In his will, he left non-monetary possessions such as there were to my brother, and whatever money there was to me. My own expectation was that there would be nothing left to come to me, but it turned out that there is a very modest amount left in a bank account.My own financial situation is very precarious indeed, largely a consequence of being mobility-impaired and having to spend far more than is sustainable every month on transport to and from work and to and from my weekly shopping. Little though there is by most standards in the bank account, by enabling me to augment my income for a few months to pay for transport I need to continue to earn a living and to have a livelihood at all, it would enable me to survive for a few months longer in a situation where my survival is tenuous because I do not own property, have significant assets or any social or familial safety nets here, and constantly teeter between just managing and street homelessness and death through exposure and starvation. I could not travel to Israel when my father died, given that health problems make such travel dangerous in the first place, and the means to pay for renewal of passports, tickets and accomodation is simply not there. My late father's will names no executor, but my brother -- who lives in the ame town as my father did -- has been dealing with matters. He informs me that the lack of an executor creates serious problems as far as retrieval of such money as there is in our late father's account and its transfer to me in accordance with his will are concerned. There is a legal procedure, apparently, which is costly and time-consuming, and is likely to eat up most if not all of the modest amount in the account. An implication, though it is something he has not stated, is that the cost could well overshoot the amount in the bank account, leaving me owing money to lawyers and to the State without any benefit whatsoever. In practical terms, the burden of the informaion seems to be that it is best to abandon what my late father bequeathed to me and to let whatever will happen to it happen to it. My own attempts at investigation of the law of succession in Israel suggest that it should be simple and straight-forward in theory at least. As I understand it, there is a National Supervisor and Registrar for Matters of Succession to whom I should presumably write concerning the matter. The fact that the will names no executor should not be an impediment: I have given my brother power of attorney. It also makes no sense that a process intended to make everything simple and straightforward, as the law appears to be on the face of it, should make it all so arduous and so costly that it is likely to make the receipt of a very modest testamentary disposition impossibly expensive -- so mu ch so that it renders it impossible to execute my late father's wishes in regard to whatever small sum of money is left. I need to know how to write to the National Supervisor and Registrar for Matters of Succession, as well as to know something about procedures and fees. As I note, what is involved is a pittance by most people's standards, but given my personal circumstances it could provide me with a few month's worth of survival. שתסלחו לי שלא כתבתי בעברית. המסר דורש דיוק, ויותר קל לי לכתוב בדיוק הנדרש באנגלית בנוגע לסוגייא הספציפי, וגם יותר מהיר בגלל חמקלדת הלועזית שלי. כל טוב שלומית (Sally)