Civil Case (Haifa) 34121-06-23 David Atar v. Hannah Carasso

Judgment

The late Sol Ziv (Ben Baruch) z"l (hereinafter: "the deceased") owned a residential apartment in Haifa, which became the focus of the lawsuit before me.  The plaintiff, the deceased's grandson, and the defendant's daughter, disagree on the question of who should own the apartment: is it owned by the grandson who claims to have received it as a gift, while the deceased was alive, or is it owned by the daughter who inherited the apartment according to a will made by the deceased? The main dispute in the case relates to the question of whether there was a gift transaction; And if a gift was indeed given, did the deceased give this gift of good and free will, not under conditions of oppression?

Background and arguments of the parties:

1. Prior to a claim for declaratory relief, according to which I was asked to declare that the right of ownership of the apartment, which is located at 14 Yad Labanim Street in Haifa, known as Plot 11 in Block 12485 (hereinafter: "The apartment"), is to the plaintiff pursuant to an alleged gift agreement dated November 21, 2013 (hereinafter: "Gift Agreement"), in which the plaintiff was granted full rights. The apartment is currently registered in the defendant's name, by virtue of a will drawn up by the deceased in 2004, the validity of which is indisputable.

The deceased was registered as the owner of the apartment in its entirety at the relevant time.  According to the claim statement, on June 6, 2023, the plaintiff learned for the first time that on April 19, 2023, all the rights in the apartment were registered in the defendant's name, according to a will drawn up by the deceased.  After an examination that was conducted, it became clear to the plaintiff that on April 18, 2023, an order was issued by the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs in Haifa, at the defendant's request, for the execution of the deceased's will dated August 10, 2004.  According to the will, the deceased bequeathed the bulk of her assets to two of her four children: her son Moshe z"l, who died before the deceased, and to the defendant.  The deceased further commanded that if her son Moshe z"l passed away before her, his shares in the will would be inherited by the defendant's children in equal shares.