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Home / Will a woman living in the States with her husband – both of whom were Israelis who also had US citizenship and married according to Jewish law in Israel – be entitled to any property in Israel registered in his name if they were in the middle of a civil divorce battle abroad when he had a heart attack and died without making a will ?

Will a woman living in the States with her husband – both of whom were Israelis who also had US citizenship and married according to Jewish law in Israel – be entitled to any property in Israel registered in his name if they were in the middle of a civil divorce battle abroad when he had a heart attack and died without making a will ?

By: דיאנה שאלתיאל•Published on: 12 May, 2022
The woman will be entitled to some of the deceased’s Israeli estate if, according to Israeli law, she was still married to him under Jewish religious law. In other words, if the couple had not divorced in the U.S. in a rabbinical court authorized and recognized for this purpose by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, then they will still be regarded as married in Israel, and will have the rights of a widow according to the 1965 Inheritance Act. It does not matter if they obtained a civil divorce abroad or not – only a proper, Jewish divorce executed abroad and recognized in Israel, would deprive the woman of her status as a widow regarding inheritance.

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