Signing an Israeli Continuing Power of Attorney When You Live Abroad

By: Adv. Eli Shimony

Short answer: You can put an Israeli continuing power of attorney (Also known as: IL – yipui koach mitmashech, UK – Lasting Power of Attorney, US -Durable Power of Attorney) in place while living outside Israel, and if you have property, bank accounts or long-term plans in Israel, it is usually the only document Israeli institutions will act on once you lose capacity. The one step you cannot do remotely is the signing, which must take place before an Israeli lawyer who has completed the prescribed training. You come to Israel, or the lawyer comes to you. And because Section 77(b) of the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law 1962 applies your home country’s law to the document’s validity and scope, the preparation differs from that of a client in Tel Aviv.

“So I have to fly to Israel for this?”

Almost every client abroad asks me that first. The honest answer is: not necessarily, but somebody has to fly. Either you sign during a visit, or an Israeli lawyer authorized to prepare the document meets you in London, New York or Toronto. Everything else can be handled remotely. The meeting cannot.

Why an Israeli document, if you already have one at home

Most clients abroad already have a lasting or durable power of attorney at home, and assume it covers the apartment in Netanya too.

For Israeli assets, it generally does not. An Israeli bank officer or Land Registry clerk handed a foreign incapacity document cannot check whether it is still valid, whether it was revoked, or what it permits under a legal system they do not know. Usually they will decline to act on it.

The ordinary Israeli power of attorney that many non-residents signed years ago, often at a consulate, fails too. Section 32J of the Law says that once the principal cannot understand the matter, an attorney may act for them only under a continuing power of attorney that was deposited with the Administrator General (Apotropus Klali) and has come into effect.

Many Israelis abroad, and diaspora Jews with family here, also plan to come back eventually, to be near children or move into assisted living (diyur mugan). If that is your plan, the decisions that matter most will be made in Israel, and a document covering personal and medical matters puts them in the hands of the person you chose.

In Practice: Under Section 32J of the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law 1962, the relative in Israel holding your old general power of attorney loses all authority the moment you can no longer understand the matter. What remains is a guardianship application to the Family Court, which usually involves a report from a court social worker and takes months, with siblings in different time zones supplying documents. Even then, selling an Israeli apartment worth NIS 2 million to pay for care needs separate approval.

The face-to-face requirement, and why it exists

Section 32N(a) requires the principal to sign before a lawyer who has completed the training set by regulations and has no personal interest in the document.

The signature is the short part. First the lawyer must explain, in plain language you understand, what the document means legally, what the alternatives are (guardianship among them), which actions need explicit authorization or prior approval, and how to revoke it. Section 32M(d) requires this explanation to be given without the proposed attorney-in-fact present. Then, under Section 32N(e), the lawyer certifies that you understood and signed freely, without pressure, undue influence or exploitation.

That certification is hard to give through a screen. In a meeting I can see who walks into the room and who waits outside. I can hear how a client answers when their son is not sitting beside them, and whether they can explain back to me, in their own words, what they are signing. That judgment is the safeguard the law is built on.

Two consequences follow for anyone abroad:

A local notary, a foreign lawyer or a routine consular attestation cannot replace the trained Israeli lawyer. Those routes suit an ordinary power of attorney, not a continuing one.

The statute says before whom you sign, not where. You can bring the principal to the lawyer, or the lawyer to the principal.

During COVID-19 and the Iron Swords war, the Administrator General allowed preparation by video conference under strict temporary conditions. I would not build an overseas client’s plan around emergency measures. Plan for an in-person meeting.

Two ways to meet: you come to Israel, or the lawyer comes to you

Best for

Signing during a visit to Israel: Clients who visit regularly and travel easily.

Israeli lawyer travels to you: Older or unwell principals, couples, several relatives signing.

Meeting place

Signing during a visit to Israel: Lawyer’s office, hotel, relative’s home.

Israeli lawyer travels to you: Your home, office or care facility.

Preparation

Signing during a visit to Israel: Remotely, before you land.

Israeli lawyer travels to you: Remotely, before the lawyer travels.

Extra cost

Signing during a visit to Israel: None beyond your trip.

Israeli lawyer travels to you: The lawyer’s travel time and expenses.

Main risk

Signing during a visit to Israel: Booking the meeting too late in the visit.

Israeli lawyer travels to you: A capacity question arising far from Israeli experts.

Signing during a visit. The intake call, the list of your Israeli assets, the details of the people you are appointing, a draft to review and a translation if needed can all be dealt with before you travel. The meeting in Israel is then about explanation, questions and signatures. Book it early in the trip, not the day before your flight home, so there is time for a second meeting or an expert opinion if one turns out to be needed.

The lawyer travels to you. For a client of 86, or someone recovering from surgery, an Israeli lawyer who holds the training can travel and prepare the document at their home or care facility. This makes most sense when several people sign on one trip, such as two spouses, or a parent and adult children each making their own document. The lawyer deposits the document online after returning to Israel. Weigh the added travel cost against what is at stake in Israel and against the alternative of guardianship later.

In Practice: If the lawyer doubts the principal’s capacity, Section 32N(b) requires referral to an expert under the Legal Capacity and Guardianship (Expert Opinions) Regulations 2024 before signing, and that cannot be arranged in three days in a foreign city. For older clients or anyone with an early diagnosis, I ask for a recent letter from the treating physician before travelling. Section 32M(f) also allows an expert opinion confirming capacity to be attached. On a portfolio worth NIS 3 million, that is cheap protection against a relative arguing, five years later, that Mom no longer understood what she signed.

Whose law applies? Section 77(b) and the foreign-law question

Section 77(b) provides that the validity and scope of a continuing power of attorney are governed by the law of the principal’s domicile on the date it is made. Section 80 defines domicile as the place where a person’s center of life is. The rule does not apply to amending, limiting, revoking or terminating the document.

So an Israeli citizen who has lived in New York for twenty years has her center of life there, and whether her Israeli continuing power of attorney is valid, and how far its powers reach, will be examined under New York law.

In practice these documents are usually accompanied by a legal opinion from a lawyer in the principal’s country addressing local law and its fit with the Israeli document. Without one, there is a risk that a Family Court application will be needed when the document has to come into effect, which is exactly when the family needs to move fast. I coordinate that opinion with a local lawyer as part of the preparation.

If you split your year between Florida and Tel Aviv, settle and document where your center of life is on the day of signing. If you plan to move back to Israel, do not wait for the move to skip this step. Health can change faster than relocation plans.

Choosing attorneys-in-fact when your family is in three countries

Section 32C requires an attorney-in-fact (meyupe koach) to be at least 18 and not under guardianship and, for property matters, not an undischarged bankrupt or a severely restricted bank customer. There is no residency requirement. Your daughter in London can serve.

Day to day, though, some tasks need someone on the ground. Structures I use often:

Appoint joint attorneys (Section 32D) or a substitute (Section 32E), for example a daughter abroad as primary attorney and a nephew in Israel as substitute.

Split by subject: a sister in Israel for property here, the child who lives near you for personal and medical matters.

Section 32F(f) lets a property attorney appoint an agent for specific powers, so a son in Toronto can instruct an Israeli lawyer to complete one transaction without flying in. He cannot, however, appoint a replacement continuing attorney.

Your attorney-in-fact signs a consent to serve before a lawyer (Section 32N(d)). Under an Administrator General directive from February 2022, that consent can be witnessed by video conference. Confirm it is still in force, but in practice a son in Sydney need not fly anywhere just to accept the role.

Under Section 32P you also name an “informed person” (adam meyuda) who receives the attorney’s reports, or you choose reporting to the Administrator General. In scattered families, one sibling acts and another reads the reports. A paid professional in Israel can also serve, but under Section 32L the fee must be set in the document.

What your attorney-in-fact can do with Israeli property

A line saying “may sell my apartment” is not enough.

In Practice: Under Section 32F(d) of the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law 1962, even an explicitly authorized attorney-in-fact cannot transfer or mortgage the principal’s apartment, or carry out any other real estate transaction, without prior approval under Section 74A. The application goes to the Administrator General, who may approve it or refer it to the Family Court. The main exception for landlords is a lease of up to five years not governed by the Tenant Protection Law. Under Section 32F(c), transactions worth NIS 100,000 to NIS 500,000 need explicit authorization, and anything above NIS 500,000 needs prior approval even with it.

So spell out what you want to allow: renewing leases, paying arnona (municipal tax) and the mortgage, running the rent account, and acting on Israeli pension savings, which needs explicit authorization with limited exceptions. Then your attorney does not have to guess and the bank does not have to ask.

Section 32X(b) is also worth knowing. The document ends when the principal dies, but for up to 90 days, and while nobody else is authorized, the property attorney may pay ongoing bills and funeral expenses and keep managing a rented property. For heirs abroad who are only starting to work out how to obtain an Israeli succession order, those three months prevent a lot of damage.

Bringing the document into effect from abroad

The document takes effect when the principal can no longer understand the matter and the attorney-in-fact files a declaration with the Administrator General that the conditions and notification duties were met (Section 32S(a)).

Who decides you can no longer understand? You do, in advance. Section 32S(c) lets you set the method, an expert opinion or another way, as long as it is not the attorney-in-fact’s decision alone. If the document is silent, an expert opinion is required. If you have seen a geriatrician in Boston for years, consider providing now for an opinion from your treating physician abroad, with a certified translation, and have the wording checked so nobody discovers later that you must be examined in Israel.

For property, Section 32S(b) also allows the document to take effect immediately, while you are still capable, operating like an ordinary agency until capacity is lost. You get a manager for your Israeli affairs now and continuity if things change.

In Practice: Under Section 32Q(a), deposit with the Administrator General is a precondition for the document ever taking effect, and it is done by the principal or by the lawyer who witnessed the signing. A principal filing personally can expect processing of up to 21 days. After that, Section 32U(b) has the Administrator General contact the principal every three years until the document takes effect. A non-resident who has changed address will simply not receive the notice. The document stays valid without a reply, but current contact details mean any change you want reaches you in time.

The most expensive mistake

Common Mistake: Postponing the signing “until our next trip to Israel.” The trip slips a year, then another, and meanwhile an early diagnosis arrives. The lawyer may then be required under Section 32N(b) to obtain an expert opinion before signing, and if the principal no longer understands the document it cannot be made at all. The family is left with a Family Court guardianship application that takes months, runs across time zones, and ends with a judge, not the parent, deciding who controls a NIS 2.5 million apartment.

Practical checklist

List everything you hold in Israel: real estate, accounts, provident and study funds (kupot gemel, keren hishtalmut), inheritance rights, shares.

Decide the scope: property only, or personal and medical matters too if you may move back.

Choose an attorney-in-fact and a substitute, and ask who can actually act in Israel.

Have the lawyer assess your domicile and whether a foreign-law opinion is needed.

Choose between signing on a visit and having the lawyer travel to you.

Provide for how incapacity will be determined if you are treated abroad.

Coordinate the Israeli document with your home-country documents, and keep your contact details with the Administrator General current.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sign before a notary in my own country?

No. The law requires signing before an Israeli lawyer who has completed the training for continuing powers of attorney. A local notary, foreign lawyer or consular attestation works for an ordinary power of attorney, not for this document. If you cannot travel, an authorized Israeli lawyer can come to you.

Can the whole process be done over Zoom?

The rule is an in-person meeting, because the lawyer must explain the document without the attorney-in-fact present and be satisfied you are acting freely. Temporary video arrangements existed during emergencies, and it is unwise to plan around them. Your attorney-in-fact’s consent, however, can be witnessed by video under a 2022 Administrator General directive, which you should confirm is still in force.

What happens to the document if I move back to Israel?

It stays valid. Under Section 77(b), validity and scope are judged by the law of your domicile on the day you signed. If you want to update it, you can sign a new one, and under Section 32Q(c) the most recently deposited document on the same matter prevails.

Speak With an Israeli Attorney

Preparation can start now with a remote consultation about your Israeli assets, your choice of attorneys-in-fact and the foreign-law question. The signing can then be set for your next visit, or we can come to you.

Contact us for a confidential initial consultation.

Eli Shimony – Israeli law firm represents clients on all legal matters in Israel. For any questions, please contact us, and we will be happy to assist.
By email: [email protected], By phone: +972-52-2769773, +972-3-5507155.
The above is only general information and does not replace legal advice, which is usually necessary before taking legal proceedings.