Estate Case (Nazareth) 19103-02-20 Anonymous vs. Anonymous

The questions in dispute in the proceedings under the title are:

Whether the testator had the legal capacity to discern the nature of a will and whether the will whose execution is requested as a "will of the deceased" is valid according to the provisions of the law.

1. The Relevant Facts

1. The rest ...  The late (hereinafter: "the deceased" or "the mitzva") passed away on June 9, 2019 at Rambam Hospital in Haifa at the age of 81.
2. The deceased is a widow of five children, including her two opposing daughters, the daughter P., who was a witness to the late will, the fulfillment of which is requested as a will of the deceased (hereinafter: "P"), the deceased son ...  The father of the two applicants, who are the granddaughters of the deceased, and another son.
3. The deceased owns 1/12 of the land known as Plot 6 in Block 17527 of the village's lands.  (Hereinafter: "Straightening").
4. The deceased signed a previous will on November 24, 2012, which was prepared before the notary, Adv. Diab Khoury (hereinafter: "the notary" and "the previous will").

In section 3 of the previous will, the deceased bequeathed out of her rights 1/48 of the plot to each of her two opposing daughters and daughter P and 1/96 to each of her two granddaughters (the Applicant and her sister hereinafter: "the granddaughters").

1. On June 6, 2019, three days before her death, it was claimed that she had ordered her statements, which were required to be fulfilled as an oral will, at the home of Objector No.  2, before the notary before whom she had drawn up the previous will, and in the presence of her daughter P.  (hereinafter, "the late will" or "the oral will").
2. The content of the late will as it emerges from the memorandum submitted by the notary and P.  and deposited with the Inheritance Registrar on September 19, 2019 is summarized as follows: The notary notes that he was invited to the home of Objector 2, by P.  at the request of the deceased.  The notary notes that he had a short conversation with the deceased to ascertain her mental state.  The deceased told him that she wanted to change her previous will, and explained that she was aware that her time was approaching and that she wanted to leave this world with a clear conscience towards her son's widow..., who, according to her, had made an effort to raise her two granddaughters, and therefore she bequeathed half of her rights in part to her son's widow and his two daughters in equal shares, and the other half of her rights in part to her three daughters in equal shares.
3. Shortly after the deceased's statement in the late will, on the evening of that day, the deceased was transferred to a hospital in Nazareth, and on 7 June 2019, in light of the deterioration of her medical condition, she was transferred to Rambam Hospital, where she died two days later on 9 June 2019.
4. On June 19, 2021, the expert opinion was submitted regarding the assessment of the deceased's mental state and her competence and ability to discern the nature of a will as of June 6, 2019.

The opinion determined that after receiving an anamnesis and reviewing the medical records, at the time of the drafting of the late will, the deceased was cognitively and mentally competent to understand the nature of the will and to make it with judgment, consideration and preserved cognitive function, and in a manner that enables the ability to discern the nature of a will.