An elderly woman sued discovered that, contrary to an oral agreement between them, an apartment purchased by her jointly with her son and daughter-in-law was registered solely under the son and daughter-in-law names.
The Court accepted the claim in full and held that half of the rights in the apartment is to be registered under the mother’s name. Israeli law states that an obligation to make a transaction in real estate requires a written document. The "writing requirement" can be overcome by virtue of the principle of good faith in special and exceptional cases where the "cry of fairness" justifies it. Here, the mother transferred funds to her son and daughter-in-law for the purpose of purchasing an apartment, relying on the son's promise that the mother's rights would be guaranteed in the new apartment. The son did not register the rights under the mother’s name while misleading her and taking advantage of the fact that the mother does not read Hebrew. This is an exceptional case in which the "cry of fairness" justifies validating an oral agreement between the mother, her son, and her daughter-in-law and therefore half the rights of the apartment will be registered under the mother's name.