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Basic Principles and Terminology - Chapter 3 - Trusts and Estate Planning in Israel - Second Edition
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This chapter is from Trusts and Estate Planning in Israel, Second Edition
PAGE PREVIEW Before examining the Israeli trust in this book, it is necessary to understand the basic terminology, including the roles of the key position holders and the legal terms frequently used. Section 1 of the Trust Law defines a trust as “a relationship to any property by virtue of which a trustee is bound to hold the same, or to act in respect thereof, in the interest of a beneficiary or for some other purpose.” According to Shlomo Kerem, this definition encompasses any legal framework under which a person is required to hold or act in respect of an asset for someone else. This definition applies, legally, to any instance in which control of an asset is granted, through any relationship whatsoever, if that control is accompanied by an obligation to act in regard to the asset for the benefit of a specific purpose; thus, a trustee is someone who, although he has control of the asset, must exercise that control to achieve a purpose that is not to his own personal benefit. This definition may be seen as having broad applicability, allowing any trust relationship to be caught within its net, even if an attempt is made to conceal it or evade its application in some other manner. Kerem further holds that trust means the obligation imposed on a person who has been granted control of an asset to administer it so as to attain a specific goal. Thus, in Rosenman vs. Krieger, the court viewed the trust as a vehicle for transferring assets to another person, not by way of gift or sale, with the intention that the person who holds control will manage the assets in the interests of those entitled to benefit from them. The Trust Law does not explicitly define the connection between the trustee and the asset, and it indeed appears that there is no uniform interpretation of this term. A fundamental question thus arises in this context as to whether transfer of title of the trust assets to the trustee is required in order to establish the relationship as noted in Section 1 above, or whether the granting of control to the trustee over the trust assets is sufficient for this purpose.
Dr. Alon Kaplan, Advocate & Notary, is a member of the Israel Bar and was admitted as a member of the New York and Frankfurt Bars. He is the President and founder of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners “STEP Israel”. Academically speaking, he has a Ph.D. from Zurich University in Switzerland and an LL.B. and LL.M. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Kaplan maintains a direct and close relationship with academia, and he was a lecturer on trusts in the Academic Management College, Reichman University, and the Law Faculty of Tel Aviv University, where he taught trust courses for LL.M. students. Dr. Kaplan is a popular lecturer on trusts in Israel and abroad. He constructed the academic program for the Trusts Diploma of STEP in Israel. Throughout his professional career, he has written numerous professional articles in legal journals, on matters of trusts, intergenerational asset transfers and selected commercial law topics such as agent and distributor laws, a topic which he researched for his LL.M. thesis. Dr. Kaplan has been a regular contributor of articles to Trusts & Trustees by Oxford University Press. He has written and edited numerous professional books, among these on doing business in Israel, on trusts in Israel, and on international trusts laws. His book, Trusts and Estate Planning in Israel, is a professional and comprehensive guidebook for practitioners in this area in Israel. Another important book in English is Trusts in Prime Jurisdictions, fifth edition, 2020 which reviews trusts in various jurisdictions by 19 authors from various jurisdictions. In December 2020 he was the co-editor of the book, Life Cycle of a Family Business, published in London. Meytal Liberman, Advocate and Notary, TEP, advises private clients in Israel and internationally on trusts and estate planning. Her services include legal structuring for the long-term holding, ownership, and management of assets, addressing legal incapacity, division of marital property, wills, and trusts. She has practiced in this field since 2012, combining legal work, academic study, and active participation in professional organizations, publications, lectures, and continuing legal education.
Ms. Liberman was admitted to the Israel Bar in 2013 and licensed as a notary in 2024. She holds an LL.B. from Bar Ilan University (2012) and an LL.M. in Commercial Law from Tel Aviv University (2015). She is a full member of STEP, having earned a Diploma in International Trust Management following two years of study. Since 2018, she has been authorized by the Administrator General and the Israel Bar Association to draft and execute legal instruments for future incapacity planning, including the Enduring Power of Attorney, Expression of Wishes Document, and Preliminary Instructions for the Appointment of a Guardian. Her writing includes chapters in Asia-Pacific Trusts Law, Volume 2 (Bloomsbury, 2022), Trusts in Prime Jurisdictions (5th ed., Globe Law and Business, 2019), and Trust in Israel: Theory and Practice (2017, in Hebrew). Her work has also appeared in Trusts & Trustees, The International Family Office Journal, and STEP Journal. She lectures regularly at seminars and conferences, including events hosted by the Israel Bar Association and STEP.
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