In Israel, the law offers you the possibility of delegating your power to act to a trusted third party. Thanks to a major reform of the Law on Legal Capacity and Guardianship, the Ministry of Justice now allows certified lawyers to establish specific legal documents. These documents allow you to calmly plan your directives in the event of future incapacity.
Rather than leaving the State to appoint and oversee a guardian when the time comes, you retain your decision-making autonomy through three key mechanisms:
1. The Continuing Power of Attorney (Yipouy Koach Matmad): The Modern Alternative to Guardianship
The continuing power of attorney is an innovative system that replaces the burdensome guardianship procedure with a personal and anticipatory choice. It is intended for anyone wishing to designate, starting today, the agent or agents of their choice to act on their behalf if they were no longer in full possession of their mental faculties.
Areas of application of the mandate:
Financial matters: Management of assets, bank accounts, and real estate.
Personal matters: Choice of place of residence, daily well-being, and social support.
Medical matters: Decisions relating to treatments and care pathways.
Good to know: This mechanism allows for much faster action with fewer administrative constraints than traditional guardianship. In return, direct state oversight is more flexible. It is also possible to draft a special medical continuing power of attorney for health matters, or a specific clause relating to incurable conditions.
2. The Declaration of Future Wishes: Protecting Those in Your Care
This document is specifically intended for individuals who already act as a legal guardian for a third party (a minor child, a protected adult, etc.). Through the declaration of future wishes, you formally designate the person you wish to replace you should you no longer be able to fulfill your duties.
Please note that this document applies only in cases ofincapacity and not of death (the latter case must be addressed separately in a will). Although this expression of wishes carries considerable legal weight, it is the Court that will officially validate the appointment of the new guardian when the time comes.
3. Recommendations to the Guardian: Maintaining Control Under State Supervision
The third highly sensitive document concerns recommendations to the guardian. In this scenario, you accept that a traditional guardianship procedure will be initiated and supervised by the State, but you require that the appointed guardian strictly adheres to your pre-established directives.
Drafting a declaration of future wishes in the event of legal guardianship ensures that your lifestyle habits, values, and personal preferences will be respected, even under judicial oversight.
Why Use a Certified Lawyer in Israel?
These three forms of legal documents share a common goal: to allow you toact upon the future autonomously and avoid decisions imposed by the State.
Drafting these documents requires specialized expertise and special accreditation from the Israeli Ministry of Justice. Our law firm has received the official certification required to draft and register these documents. We are fully at your disposal to secure your future and that of your loved ones.
