ISRAEL Law and Practice Contributed by: Yaron Mehulal, Nataly Davidai and Shalom Hershkovitz, FISCHER (FBC & Co.)
amounts of income from designated sources, such as financial income, pension income and other sources.
It is also required that the designated parents and the surrogate be of the same religion, to ensure that the child’s religious status is clear (although certain exemptions apply in the case of non-Jewish cou - ples). As a condition for the surrogate arrangement to proceed, the designated parents and the surrogate must sign a surrogate agreement, which must be pre- approved by an Israeli government committee. It should be noted that surrogacy is not legal in Israel for convenience or career considerations, but only in Although there is no law specifically permitting the use of a deceased’s sperm to posthumously conceive a child, Israeli courts tend to allow implanting sperm, whether collected during the deceased’s lifetime or after his death, especially in circumstances where the deceased left behind a spouse or was killed in action. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage Same-sex marriage is not legal in Israel, although the Israeli Ministry of the Interior registers same-sex marriages performed abroad in the Israeli population register. As the registration in the Israeli population register is not legally valid and does not automatically grant same-sex couples all the rights of married couples, many same-sex couples choose not to marry abroad, but instead choose to enter into common law relation - ships (through contractual marriage), providing them with equal access to many of the rights of married couples (tax credits, the right to litigate before the Family Courts, etc). 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples Unmarried couples who maintain a shared household and live together as a family unit enjoy range of rights that are broadly similar to those of married couples, although those rights are generally less automatic and more fact-dependent. cases of infertility or health reasons. Posthumously Conceived Children As discussed at 2.3 Forced Heirship Laws , Israeli law does not impose forced heirship rules, and a valid will remains the most important planning tool for both married and unmarried couples. In the absence of a
9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children Children born out of wedlock, legally adopted chil - dren and legally recognised surrogate children are all considered the lawful issue of the deceased parent and grandparent, and are therefore eligible to inherit, subject to the terms and conditions of the Inherit - ance Law, 5725-1965. In fact, a child born up to 300 days after the deceased has died is eligible to inherit, including a child born out of wedlock, an adopted child, a surrogate child, or otherwise. It must be noted, however, that under Jewish law, which to a large extent governs legal marriages of Jewish people in Israel, as it is adopted by the coun - try’s civil law, a child born as a result of a married Jewish woman’s adultery, although legally recognised as the child of their biological father (and therefore entitled to inherit from him), is classified as a mamzer . This means that the child and their issue (for up to ten generations) will not be able to legally marry in Israel. Because of these severe consequences, Israeli courts have taken the position that the paternity of a child born out of marriage should not be easily legally challenged, to avoid creating a body of evidence that might be used to declare the child a mamzer . Surrogate Pregnancy Arrangements Israel permits surrogate pregnancy arrangements for infertile heterosexual couples and single women, and as of January 2022 also for same-sex couples, pro - vided, inter alia, that: • all parties are Israeli residents; • the surrogate is an unmarried woman, meaning single, widowed or divorced (although certain exemptions apply), who has already had at least one child of her own, has undergone no more than four childbirths, and is over the age of 22 but under the age of 39; and • the surrogate is not related to either of the desig - nated parents.
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