The Ministry of Justice officially announced today (Wednesday) that the Minister of Justice will soon sign regulations to abolish the requirement to publish inheritance orders and wills in print media, which will reduce the publication expenses associated with submitting these requests. This will be a significant blow to newspapers, as the fees for these notices constitute a large part of their profits.
From the data of the Public Trustee and the one responsible for inheritance affairs, it is evident that in 2022 alone, more than 50,000 requests for inheritance orders and requests for will execution orders were filed. Until now, as part of the inheritance order application process, every citizen was required to pay a fee of approximately 65 NIS for the purpose of publishing the request in government publications and print media.
In the State Comptroller's report on the handling of inheritances and wills published in 2019, the State Comptroller recommended that, regarding the handling of wills and inheritances, the Public Trustee should reconsider and examine the most efficient methods for publishing the submission of requests and obtaining the necessary information from their publication. Subsequently, the Service Department at the Ministry of Justice conducted a survey among those who submitted objections to inheritance orders, examining how the objectors became aware of the relevant inheritance order or will execution order submitted for them.
To streamline the process, there will be no publication in the printed press
The survey findings revealed that the majority of objectors (71%) were aware of the submission of the request through information provided by the requester or through the internet, compared to only 3% who indicated that they learned about the submission from print media. As a result of these findings, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice's consultation and legislation division, it was decided to cease publication in print media with the aim of streamlining the process and reducing the fees imposed on citizens as part of the inheritance order application process.
Ministry of Justice Director-General, Itamar Donenfeld, stated: "The initiative to reduce the publication fee for inheritance orders is part of a broader effort we are advancing as part of improving the business environment and reducing the regulatory burden on the country's citizens, which is one of the key priorities of the Ministry of Justice for the coming years. Lowering the fee will ease the regulatory burden on citizens and is aligned with the ministry's policy to make the legal system more accessible and reduce the costs of using Ministry of Justice services."
The Public Trustee and Attorney for Inheritance Affairs, Adv. Bentzi Feigelson, stated: "This initiative is part of a series of measures by the Ministry of Justice to improve public service, including expanding the authority of the inheritance registrar to issue inheritance orders and will execution orders in cases that were previously handled in the courts, such as the inheritance of non-residents. We will continue to work on reducing the processing times for issuing inheritance orders as part of our efforts to improve public service."