Alon Kaplan, Lyat Eyal and Diana Apelboim Ladovsky

Alon Kaplan and Lyat Eyal

The article reviews the Israeli Banking Ordinance 1941, whose provisions relating to joint ownership of assets in Israel are quite unique in Israeli law. Non-residents, both clients and professionals, owning assets in Israel, unfamiliar with local laws and accustomed to the laws in their relevant jurisdictions, are often surprised. Estate planning, including the establishment of inter-vivos structures, such as foundations and trusts, may resolve some of the issues. This article will not discuss basic issues but rather the manner in which trusts and foundations may remove various obstacles for non-residents who are not familiar with Israeli laws. For the purpose of this article, we consider the Israeli Hekdesh coupled with an Israeli underlying company as a foundation, as this arrangement may be used to hold assets under a trust in Israel.

Alon Kaplan & Meytal Liberman

Alon Kaplan and Lyat Eyal

Alon Kaplan, Lyat Eyal and Meytal Liberman

Alon Kaplan and Lyat Eyal

Freedom of succession has created many discussions over the past few months for estate and trust professionals. This is mainly due to the EU Regulation, which for many is a significant development towards freedom of succession. Israel is a country of immigration and emigration. As movement of individuals between different jurisdictions is relatively simple, and the global world is relatively small, individuals tend to travel, and change their jurisdiction of residence (or domicile, as the different jurisdictions may permit), with assets and family members in different countries subject to different laws. This makes estate planning and, later, implementation of the plan complicated. The EU Regulation aims to resolve some of these issues.

Alon Kaplan and Lyat Eyal

This article treats the Israeli Hekdesh coupled with an Israeli underlying company as a foundation. It summarizes the taxation of foundations and trusts in Israel, as well as the main provisions of the relevant legislation as revised in 2013 which is now final and effective. The article then continues to discuss the appointment of protectors under Israeli law. Finally, the article provides for an interpretation of the arbitration law as it relates to foundations and trusts.

Alon Kaplan & Shlomo Kerem

Alon Kaplan and Lyat Eyal

Alon Kaplan and Lyat Eyal

In Israel, local laws and governmental agencies regulate estate and inheritance matters. Consequently, in order to distribute estate assets, a petition for an inheritance or probate order must be filed locally. Such filings may be avoided by the establishment of a trust during one’s lifetime. By transferring assets to a trust/Hekdesh, they no longer form part of the individual’s estate upon death, and no court orders are then required to transfer the assets to the heirs. Since a trust is not a separate legal entity, a trustee may establish an Israeli underlying company to hold the assets for the trust.