A woman passed without a will, having been unmarried but lived with a couple for over 20 years.
The Court found that the couple is a common-law spouse for purpose of inheritence. The Israeli Inheritance Law stipulates that in the absence of a contrary will, common-law spouses inherit from each other as married spouses. For recognition of this status, four cumulative conditions are required: maintaining a family life, managing a joint household, not being married to each other and neither being married to another person at the time of death. In this case, the couple resided together for 20 years, shared a room and a double bed and managed a joint household in every respect. The deceased's brother had even referred to the life-partner in an affidavit as a "common-law spouse”. Consequently, the inheritance provisions under the law were applied to the estate with the common-law spouse have rights of a married spouse.