A co-owner of an apartment, who inherited half of his deceased father's apartment, demanded that his half-sister pay him usage fees after she moved into the apartment with her partner and two children without his consent, even though her mother (the owner of the second half of the rights in the apartment) permitted her to do so.
The Court held that the half-sister shall be charged with the payment of appropriate usage fees for the co-owner’s relative share. Under Israeli law, a co-owner's right to use a joint property without the other owners' consent is conditioned upon the use being reasonable and not preventing similar use by another co-owner. In this case, bringing an entire additional family into the apartment constitutes an unreasonable use, as it prevents the second co-owner (the inheriting son) from making a similar use and infringes upon his proprietary rights. Therefore, the half-sister is to pay for the use that she and her family make of the co-owner’s share in the apartment.