Inheritance battle over tens of millions: Daughter claims mother and sister exploited father’s illness
Only after her father’s death did the eldest daughter discover she had been excluded from his will. She alleges that her mother and younger sister exploited her father’s rare neurological condition and cognitive decline to disinherit her. She is now challenging the will, citing evidence of a close, loving relationship that persisted until his final moments.
Two sisters and their mother are locked in a legal battle over an inheritance worth tens of millions of shekels, from which the eldest daughter was completely excluded. The daughter alleges that her mother and younger sister turned her father against her, exploiting his cognitive decline caused by a rare neurological illness to secure a will that disinherits her. Attorneys for the mother and younger sister responded that the matter will be handled in court rather than through the media.
The eldest daughter maintains that her pursuit of the inheritance is not driven by money, but by a moral obligation to honor her father’s true wishes and preserve his dignity. "I am bringing this truth to light out of great love for my father and the promise I made to him. Ensuring his voice is heard as he would have wanted is the final and most important act I can perform for him, knowing full well that his love for me was great and that he only wanted me to be happy," she stated.
The father, who passed away last year, held significant assets in Israel and abroad, including apartments, office buildings, and several companies. Following his diagnosis with a rare, progressive neurological disease, his condition gradually deteriorated. After his death, the mother and younger daughter filed for probate, revealing the contents of the will to the eldest daughter for the first time.
Claims of “strained relations” and the statement of opposition
Under the will, drafted several years before his death, the estate was to be transferred to the mother, and subsequently to the younger daughter, with the remainder divided among the grandchildren. The father explicitly stated he was excluding his eldest daughter due to "strained relations" and her alleged attempts to prevent him from seeing his grandchildren.
In her formal opposition filed with the Registrar of Inheritance Affairs, the eldest daughter argues that the relationship remained close. She provided photographs taken after the will was drafted, showing her with her father and the grandchildren during his final years. She claims her mother and sister systematically sowed discord to alienate her from him.
According to the daughter, her mother and sister took advantage of his vulnerability as his health declined. Medical records submitted with the filing indicate that the father suffered from cognitive impairment months before the will was signed. The daughter argues these documents prove he lacked the capacity to execute a valid will and that the document does not reflect his free will.
Attorneys Bezalel Kraus and Noa Binder Steinberg, representing the eldest daughter, stated: "This is a clear case of interference with the free will of an elderly man suffering from a severe degenerative neurological disease. The medical evidence raises grave questions regarding the circumstances under which the will was drafted. Our client is acting out of a moral duty to protect the true intentions of her father, with whom she shared a bond of love and mutual respect."
