Israeli Court Overturns Will Favoring Younger Lover Over Husband
Translated & summarized from Vesty by baba
A Tel Aviv court invalidated a will leaving a woman's estate to a younger man, ruling he exploited her emotional dependency. The husband, married to the deceased for 42 years, was declared the sole heir after challenging the will. The court cited a psychiatrist's record and contradictory testimony from the beneficiary. The beneficiary must pay 250,000 shekels in legal costs, and the case has been referred to the police.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Tel Aviv court invalidated a will leaving a woman's estate to a younger man, disinheriting her husband.
- The court ruled the beneficiary exploited the woman's emotional dependency and feigned love to gain her property.
- The husband, married for 42 years, was declared the sole heir after challenging the will.
- A psychiatrist's record and the beneficiary's inconsistent testimony were key evidence.
- The beneficiary must pay 250,000 shekels in legal costs and the case was sent to police.
A Tel Aviv Family Court has invalidated a will that left a woman's entire estate to a man 15 years her junior, disinheriting her husband and revoking his right to live in their shared apartment. The widower had challenged the will, leading Judge Esther Zhitnitsky-Rokover to rule that the beneficiary exploited the woman's emotional dependency and induced her to transfer her property by feigning love. Consequently, the court declared the husband the sole heir.
The case, detailed by lawyer Meggy Galperin on the legal website Psakdin, involved a couple married for 42 years with no children. The wife met the beneficiary, the son of a hairdresser she encountered at a nursing home, in 2012. He began assisting the couple with various tasks, including home renovations. Three years later, the wife executed a will leaving everything to him, explicitly barring her husband from inheritance and continued residency.
Following the wife's death in 2021, the beneficiary sought to validate the will, but the husband objected. He alleged the beneficiary and his family manipulated the couple's trust and health to seize their assets. The husband claimed the beneficiary falsely professed romantic feelings for his wife, persuaded them to sell two apartments, withdrew funds from their accounts, and convinced his wife to purchase a 300,000 shekel Lexus for him.
The beneficiary countered that the deceased treated him like a son and denied any romantic involvement, personal financial gain, or undue influence, stating his family provided devoted assistance. A key piece of evidence was a psychiatrist's record from 18 days after the will's signing, where the woman, suffering from depression, described her relationship with the married "lover" and noted her mood depended on his treatment of her. She also informed the doctor she had already willed him her property.
Judge Zhitnitsky-Rokover found the husband's account more credible, deeming the beneficiary's testimony contradictory and unreliable. The court also considered testimony from an acquaintance of the beneficiary regarding financial exploitation and inconsistencies from the lawyer who drafted the will. The ruling stated the man "played with her feelings," creating a false impression of intimacy to secure the inheritance, constituting undue influence, deception, and fraud. The court denied the will's validation, issued a succession certificate to the husband, ordered the beneficiary to pay the husband 250,000 shekels for legal costs, and referred the case materials to the police.
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