Going through a divorce? Is an amicable divorce reality or fantasy?
Have you decided to divorce? Instead of waging a painful, damaging and needless war in the courtroom, there is another way, and the gain is entirely yours and your children's.
Choosing mediation makes divorce easier and leads to the most efficient, fastest and most cost-effective outcome. The mediation process looks after your interests and your children's, all by agreement and without a painful war!
Divorce mediation leads to a dignified separation and a fair agreement drawn up with your consent and approval, without long delays in the courts and without enormous legal expenses!
Our office's team of expert mediators works in a very unique way that pairs an experienced male mediator and an experienced female mediator, who create a calm atmosphere that gives each spouse room to be heard and guides them toward a fair divorce agreement, while protecting and caring for the well-being of their shared children.
The goal of mediation is to leave the residue of the conflict behind and end the marriage quickly and in good spirit, while saving tens of thousands of shekels in attorney's fees and a long, needless and painful battle in court.
Remember, after the divorce the spouses still have shared matters that are best settled in a legally binding divorce agreement. An agreement that lets you manage those shared matters in a pleasant atmosphere and in full agreement.
A pleasant atmosphere that spares you the heartache and needless resentment that come with divorce
A fast, focused process that settles the divorce agreement.
Savings of tens of thousands of shekels in attorney's fees and legal expenses.
A legally binding divorce agreement with an enforcement mechanism.
Real Estate Law
The Reich & Co. law office, headed by Yossi and Osnat Reich, has specialized in representing clients in apartment sale and purchase transactions for more than 20 years.
We have gained experience and skill in every type of transaction: second-hand transactions and purchases of new apartments from a developer, transactions in which the right in the apartment is ownership registered in the Land Registry, and transactions in which the right being sold is a lease from the Israel Land Authority or any other body.
It is important to remember that buying or selling an apartment is the most expensive and financially significant transaction you will make in your entire life, and so the risk can be great as well.
On the other hand, the cost of legal representation in such a transaction is small relative to the price of the apartment.
Therefore, to reduce the risk in the transaction, do not skimp on getting the most professional service in the field.
You should know that when buying or selling a second-hand apartment, important legal questions arise, including significant tax considerations that can be minimized.
In addition, when acquiring the legal rights, a thorough professional review is required to ensure they are not subject to third-party rights, liens, mortgages or other restrictions. It must also be ensured that all the documents needed to transfer the rights into your name are reflected in the agreement and handed to you when you take possession of the apartment.
When buying a new apartment from a developer, you should know that the developer's attorney does not represent you and cannot serve your interests while serving the developer's.
Attorneys Yossi and Osnat Reich of the Reich & Co. law office will look after all your interests when you buy an apartment from a developer, and among other things will verify:
That the payments you make toward the apartment are secured by appropriate guarantees, usually guarantees under the Sale (Apartments) Law.
That the apartment you are buying is in a building that received a building permit.
That the developer carrying out the work is registered with the Registrar of Contractors.
That the apartment plan matches the permit that was issued.
That the technical specification you sign matches the developer's promises before signing.
Mediation
Divorce mediation is a good and effective alternative for resolving marital conflict and drafting a divorce agreement (or a marital reconciliation agreement, or alternatively a divorce agreement) by mutual consent, instead of fighting prolonged legal battles and litigation that consume a great deal of time, energy and considerable financial resources, and that may even escalate and sour the relationship. If you too are peace-seeking people who want to minimize conflict and battles in your lives, the excellent alternative we offer, a professional mediation process in a pleasant atmosphere, is calling you. You are welcome to contact our office to schedule a first mediation meeting, and we can help by giving you unique and useful tools to settle your disputes in a dignified, fair, proper and fast way.
Notary Services
A notary is a person officially authorized to verify, certify, document or draw up in writing a document or act that has legal, evidentiary or declaratory effect. Notarial acts bearing the notary's signature and seal are recognized in every country in the world as evidence from a responsible, official legal officeholder.
These acts will be accepted as evidence without the need for further proof, as authorized acts in accordance with the requirements of the law, unless the contrary is proven.
Contesting a Will
The tests for contesting a will. Relatives of a deceased are often stunned to find that their name does not appear in the will after the testator's death, even though they are certain that they too are entitled to a share of the inheritance. They have no shadow of a doubt that the will does not reflect the testator's true wishes because, in their view, undue influence was exerted on the testator when the will was written. So what can be done? After reading the article below you will see that relatives who were cut out of an inheritance should not give up hope, because the law and the case law give them tools to prove that they too have a share of the pie. Both the Succession Law, 5725-1965 (the "Succession Law") and the extensive case law on undue influence on a testator are unequivocal: if it is indeed proven that undue influence was exerted on the testator, the will is null and void.
In practice, however, things are not so simple. Proving that undue influence was exerted on the testator when the will was signed is no easy task, especially when the testator is no longer alive to testify about it. The alleged undue influence must therefore be proven from the circumstances of the specific case, through a number of tests set out in the law and the case law. Section 30(a) of the Succession Law states, in these words, that "a provision of a will made under duress, threat, undue influence, trickery or fraud is void". In other words, if it is proven that a will was signed in circumstances of "undue influence", it must be annulled. So the question is: what is the definition of undue influence? The concept of undue influence was examined in depth in the judgment of Justice Strasberg-Cohen in Civil Appeal 4902/92 Goodman v. Musaif, 49(2) 441, 448-450. In a nutshell, it is a question of fact, namely whether or not undue influence was exerted on the testator. In her judgment Justice Strasberg-Cohen noted that the unfairness of the influence is a normative, value-based question, which the court must decide according to concepts of personal and social morality, while aiming at the true will of the testator. Put differently, our concern is not with the influence itself but with its unfairness (see also Civil Appeal 5285/93 Marom v. Attorney General, 49(1) 318, 337).
A review of the case law shows that there are four main tests that help the court determine when certain conduct is legitimate influence and when it amounts to undue influence. The first test - dependence and independence: the question the court asks itself is "during the period relevant to making the will, was the testator 'independent', physically and mentally-cognitively, and to what extent?" The more independent the testator was in each of these two respects, the more the court will tend to reject the existence of dependence of the testator on the beneficiary. Conversely, the less independent the testator was in either of these respects, the stronger the tendency to find that there was dependence between the testator and the beneficiary. Whether the testator was independent should indeed be examined over time, but it is mainly important to establish the testator's condition at the time the will was made and/or at the time closest to its signing. The second test - dependence and assistance: where it turns out that the testator was indeed not independent and therefore needed the help of others, it must be examined whether the relationship between the testator and the beneficiary of the will was based on providing the help the testator needed. If it was the beneficiary who helped the testator overcome his difficulties and limitations, the court will tend to find that the testator was dependent on the beneficiary.
In this context the court attaches importance to whether the beneficiary was the only one who helped the testator with all his needs, or whether the testator was also helped by others. Help from a single person may place the testator in a state of complete dependence on the person helping him, and such a situation may be a consideration supporting a presumption of undue influence. The third test - the testator's relationships with others: the decision as to whether, and to what extent, the testator was dependent on the beneficiary may also be affected by the scope and degree of the testator's relationships with people other than the beneficiary. The more it turns out that, during the period relevant to making the will, the testator was completely cut off from other people, or that his contact with others was scarce and rare, the stronger the assumption that the testator was indeed dependent on the beneficiary.
The very isolation of the testator from the world increases his dependence on the beneficiary. Hence, for deciding the question of dependence, it makes no difference whether the beneficiary did not cause the isolation himself; even if the isolation arose from objective circumstances, the very fact of isolation increases the testator's dependence on the beneficiary. The fourth test - the circumstances in which the will was made: Section 35 of the Succession Law provides that where a person took part in making a will, a provision of the will that benefits him or his spouse is void. However, there may be situations in which the beneficiary's involvement in making the will does not amount to taking part in making it, but is prima facie evidence of undue influence on the testator. Beyond the four tests, there are additional parameters the court will take into account when it faces a case alleging undue influence on the testator.
The importance of evidence of non-objective advice given to the testator when the will was made: in a series of judgments the court has stressed the importance of independent legal advice when a claim of undue influence is examined. In the Marom case the court held that where the beneficiary was involved in choosing the attorney who drafted the will, "a careful examination of the circumstances of the matter is required to make sure they do not point to undue influence".
The wording of the will as evidence of undue influence: when the will is worded in such a way that the person who had influence over the testator is also the obvious beneficiary of the will, or when the wording of the will actually carries the "voice" of the beneficiary, or clauses that clearly come "from the mouth" of the beneficiary, then it can be said that an act clearly in the beneficiary's favor is the result of undue influence on his part. When there is no single "decisive" piece of evidence, the full set of relevant circumstances is examined from a bird's-eye view. The case law has held that there may be several circumstances, such as the beneficiary's prior acquaintance with the attorney who drafted the will, the beneficiary giving the attorney details about the requested will, the beneficiary driving the testator to the attorney, the beneficiary paying the attorney's fee, and the absence of an adequate medical certificate. The court may find that each such piece of evidence on its own is not enough to indicate undue influence, but that all the evidence and circumstances together paint an uncomfortable picture of taking part in making a will and of undue influence.
The importance of evidence about the testator's physical and mental health: when examining a claim of undue influence, evidence about the testator's physical and mental health is of great importance. Even if, legally, the testator was competent to make a will, if his physical and mental condition was such that he was prone to act under influence that would lead him to give away his property contrary to his true wishes, that would be enough to find that undue influence was exerted on the testator. The testator's physical and mental condition may also indicate the degree of his dependence on others, due to which the testator may have lost the effective ability to carry out his own wishes, as distinct from the wishes of others. Because of all these aspects, it has been held that a poor mental and physical condition of the testator calls for great caution when establishing his independent will as a testator. Although this condition in itself does not negate a testator's capacity to make a will, it serves as a warning sign regarding the possibility that he was subject to undue influence.
For example: in one case the court gave considerable weight to the testator's severe depression and acute alcohol addiction during the period in which the will was made, and in that specific case decided not to uphold the will. In another judgment on the subject, a person's will was not upheld due, among other things, to his difficulty functioning physically and taking care of himself because of his age, his being cut off from anything outside his immediate needs, his being apathetic and depressed, and his inability to take responsibility for actions beyond the minimal satisfaction of daily needs. We can see that the court has various tools to examine whether, in the specific case before it, undue influence was exerted on the testator. At the same time, we can see that the difficulty is sometimes proving those circumstances of undue influence many years after the will was signed, after the testator's death, and even after the death of those close to him who could have testified about the day the will was made and the circumstances surrounding its signing.
The court is aware of the great difficulty in proving undue influence and exercises extra caution in its findings on the subject, placing emphasis on the full set of circumstances rather than adhering too strictly to proving the tests laid down in the case law. In conclusion, we note that the tests mentioned above in our article are not a "closed list", because the case law shows that the court also examines the conduct and its components case by case (see, for example, the Goodman case). It is therefore recommended to consult a professional on such a matter, and the above should not be regarded as a substitute for a legal opinion and/or legal advice.
Bankruptcy
Our office specializes in bankruptcy, having gained in-depth familiarity with the subject over the years. Once we receive all the material from you, we will go over it together and, based on what it shows, you will receive professional advice that helps you understand what is best for you to do in the situation you find yourself in.
Another important point in this field depends mainly on the formal application that is filed: how it is worded, what it includes, what your needs are and so on. That is why it is very important to come to us for professional advice, since we will lay out all the considerations, help you make a decision and, of course, help you understand what your monthly payment will be during the debt discharge period.
Our office will accompany you throughout the entire process, because with the right handling it is possible to get out of extreme situations.
Lasting Power of Attorney
Your health is fine, but you worry that it may deteriorate and you will no longer have the cognitive capacity to make decisions? A Lasting Power of Attorney is an innovative legal instrument that lets you make important decisions in advance
By: Osnat Reich, Adv. and Notary
In 2016 an amendment to the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law was passed (Amendment No. 18, 5776-2016), in which the legislature answered an acute question: what will be done with a person on the day he is no longer able to make decisions?! In effect, the amendment allows every person to make a "Lasting Power of Attorney" and use it to decide in advance how his adult life will be managed, if and when he reaches a state in which he can no longer manage it himself.
The amendment allows every person to make a Lasting Power of Attorney while competent and lucid, and through it to determine what will be done in all of his affairs in the future.
The purpose of a Lasting Power of Attorney
Until the option of making a Lasting Power of Attorney was created, the arrangement under the law was that where a person lost the cognitive ability to make decisions about his person and/or property, the court would appoint a guardian (a family member, or a person on behalf of the Administrator General) to make decisions in his place.
The legislature realized that the law in its existing form could infringe the basic right of every person to decide, while still alive, what will be done in his various affairs (financial, personal and medical) at a time when he no longer has the cognitive ability to make those decisions himself
For example: whether to stay in the apartment or move to a nursing home; whether to sell the apartment or rent it out; whether to leave the money in the bank or invest it; whether to connect him to a ventilator or not to take life-saving medical measures, and so on. It should be remembered that even if the intentions of a court-appointed guardian are good, the decisions he makes may contradict or conflict with that person's worldview
The amendment was therefore intended to address this fundamental issue, and allows every person to make a Lasting Power of Attorney while competent and lucid, and through it to determine what will be done in all of his affairs in the future. In this way the legislature prevented a situation in which a person is deprived of the free choice to decide on financial and medical matters, if and when he can no longer make decisions himself
The court, the Administrator General or any other person cannot object to the instructions of a Lasting Power of Attorney, unless those instructions involve breaking the law
What are the advantages of a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Lasting Power of Attorney has many advantages, since it is made at a stage when the grantor (the person making it) is legally competent, lucid, clear-minded and has sound cognitive capacity to make decisions. In effect, the grantor determines his own future and is able to decide what will be done in every area of his life on the day he can no longer make decisions for himself: decisions about daily functioning (including decisions about various physical activities); decisions about carrying out financial and bureaucratic actions (such as dealing with banks and authorities); medical decisions and more
The court, the Administrator General or any other person cannot object to the instructions of a Lasting Power of Attorney, unless those instructions involve breaking the law. In effect, the amendment allows a person to appoint for himself the attorney-in-fact who will make these decisions for him in the future, instead of the "default" attorney-in-fact (the Administrator General) whom the court has appointed until now to manage personal and/or property affairs
Another significant advantage is the right given to a person to revoke the Lasting Power of Attorney at any time. This is unlike the appointment of a guardian, which, once made, is very unlikely to be revoked.
The difference between a Lasting Power of Attorney and a will is that a Lasting Power of Attorney is valid while the grantor is still alive but lacks the cognitive capacity and ability to make decisions about his property and/or person. A will, by contrast, takes effect only after the person's death
What is the difference between a Lasting Power of Attorney and a will
Many people wonder: is there a need to make a Lasting Power of Attorney even though they have already made a will? The answer is unequivocal: yes, a Lasting Power of Attorney is needed!
The difference between a Lasting Power of Attorney and a will is that a Lasting Power of Attorney is valid while the grantor is still alive but lacks the cognitive capacity and ability to make decisions about his property and/or person. A will, by contrast, takes effect only after the person's death. That is why it is very important to make both of these legal documents.
The person making the Lasting Power of Attorney can appoint whomever he wishes as his attorney-in-fact, from within his family or outside it. However, the law prohibits appointing as attorneys-in-fact people with whom the grantor has a caregiving relationship, professional dependence or financial dependence
Choosing the attorney-in-fact
As noted, the grantor can determine that the attorney-in-fact appointed on his behalf will handle all financial, property and personal decisions, explaining his instructions and expressing his wishes while he is still lucid
The person making the Lasting Power of Attorney can appoint whomever he wishes as his attorney-in-fact, from within his family or outside it. However, the law prohibits appointing as attorneys-in-fact people with whom the grantor has a caregiving relationship, professional dependence or financial dependence
Because this role carries great responsibility, and may at times lead to jealousy or tension between family members and the grantor, it is possible to appoint more than one attorney-in-fact.
Where several attorneys-in-fact are appointed, the scope of each one's responsibility and authority can be defined, as well as who will decide between them in case of disagreement. For example: one attorney-in-fact will have authority over financial matters, and a second attorney-in-fact will have authority over medical decisions.
The attorney-in-fact must sign before an attorney and declare that he agrees to serve as attorney-in-fact and undertakes to act according to the grantor's instructions.
A Lasting Power of Attorney is drawn up and signed by the grantor before an attorney who has completed special training authorizing him to handle the matter, provided that he has no personal interest in the power of attorney.
The attorney's role in making a Lasting Power of Attorney
A Lasting Power of Attorney is drawn up and signed by the grantor before an attorney who has completed special training authorizing him to handle the matter, provided that he has no personal interest in the power of attorney
The attorney's role is to sit with the grantor and raise significant questions he may need to address when the time comes, even if these questions are not relevant to him today. The attorney goes over with the client the matters that may come up in the future, so that the grantor can express his wishes about them in writing. In addition, the attorney before whom the power of attorney is signed must explain to the person making it all the implications of the power of attorney, the legal rulings in the field and the alternatives
that exist to a Lasting Power of Attorney.
Only after the person confirms
by signing the document that he understands the meaning of granting a Lasting Power of Attorney, and declares that he is doing so of his own free will, without pressure or undue influence, can the Lasting Power of Attorney be deposited with the Administrator General.
In summary: a Lasting Power of Attorney gives a person the freedom to decide, while still alive, what will be done in every area of his life should he lose the ability to make independent decisions. In this way the law gives every person the freedom to choose, and also protects the wishes of protected persons before they became protected persons.
Osnat and Yossi Reich own the Reich & Co. law and notary office, which specializes in family law and real estate, and are authorized by the Ministry of Justice to draw up Lasting Powers of Attorney.
077-3506400/ 054-4900489/ 054-4922135
