An heir sought to probate an earlier will of a childless testator granting him a property from the estate, contrary to a later will that revoked prior wills and distributed another apartment and funds to additional heirs.
The Court granted the claim pursuant to its authority to correct wills due to mistake in order to protect the testator's intent. Under the Israeli Succession Law, The Court has the authority to correct a will provision affected by a fundamental mistake, provided that the applicant proves beyond a reasonable doubt the mistake, the causal link, and the testator's true intent, while preserving the freedom of testation. In our case, the deceased’s intent to bequeath the specific property to the applicant clearly emerges. This is due, inter alia, to their close personal relationship, the applicant’s substantial financial investments in the property with the deceased’s knowledge, and the fact that the revocation clause in the later will was included as a generic, boilerplate format by the drafting attorney. Furthermore, a causal link exist, showing that the disputed revocation clause was written due to a mistake. Therefore, the revocation clause in the later will was written due to a mistake and the will is to be corrected by the cancellation of the erroneous provision only.