After the father's death, it was revealed that he had bequeathed all his property, including a business, a residential apartment, and bank accounts, to his daughter, who lived with him and cared for him and his wife in their later years, while each of her two brothers inherited ILS 10.
The Court accepted the objection of the brothers and disqualified the will due to undue influence. Israeli Inheritance Law stipulates that a will provision made under duress, threat, deception, or undue influence is void. There are four tests for determining undue influence: The physical and mental independence of the testator; The scope and nature of the assistance provided by the beneficiary to the testator, and the degree of dependence created as a result; The testator's social ties, to ensure that the beneficiary did not isolate him from his surroundings; and The circumstances of drafting the will and the extent of the beneficiary's involvement in its preparation process (for example: coordinating with the lawyer, driving the testator, or being present at the signing). Here, the daughter lived with her parents and cared for the mother with dementia, which created the father's absolute dependence on her as the caregiver. The father was isolated from the rest of the family and did not attend his grandchildren's events and the daughter was involved in arranging powers of attorney and coordinating the will with a lawyer she knew. Therefore, the will was invalidated and the inheritance was equally divided among the heirs in accordance with the law.