Designated Farm Successor (Ben Mamshich): Appointment, Approvals and the Siblings

What a Designated Successor Is and Why There Is Only One

A designated successor (ben mamshich) is the child whom the holders of the rights in a farm unit (nachala) chose to continue the farm after them. The rights in a farm unit are usually recorded with the Israel Land Authority (Rashut Mekarkei Yisrael) and with the cooperative association (aguda), not in the land registry, and under the contracts with the authorities the farm unit is a single unit that may not be divided. That is why only one of the children can receive it.

An Israel Land Authority procedure on the transfer of rights in a farm unit provides that a farm unit cannot be bequeathed to several heirs who are not spouses, and that the rights pass to one heir only. A child who does not receive the farm unit is not necessarily left with nothing: the parents can balance things through a will, other assets or a payment, and sometimes a residential plot can be split off from the farm unit, with the approval of the Israel Land Authority and against payment.

How the Appointment Is Made: The Cooperative, the Settlement Body and the Israel Land Authority

The rights holders choose the successor and sign the appointment documents. The appointment requires the approval of the settlement body, such as the Jewish Agency or the Settlement Division, and of the cooperative association. When the contract with the Israel Land Authority is a tripartite contract, the Jewish Agency's approval is also required. An appointment that was not properly completed may be invalid, in which case the rights pass under a will or an inheritance order.

An appointment is not a transfer. As long as the parents are alive, the rights remain theirs, and the successor receives the farm unit only after them. Parents who want to hand over the farm now make a lifetime transfer, by agreement and with the authorities' approval. Such a transfer has capital gains tax, purchase tax and Israel Land Authority consent fee aspects, and exemptions sometimes apply to transfers within the family.

A caution about family agreements: Section 8 of the Succession Law, 5725-1965, provides that an agreement concerning a person's estate has no validity. A parent's undertaking to transfer the farm to one of the children only after the parent's death may be invalidated under that section. That is why the right tool is chosen: an approved appointment, a will or a lifetime transfer.

What Happens When the Rights Holder Dies

Under the Israel Land Authority procedure, when the contract provides that the farm unit is not part of the estate, the rights pass first to the surviving spouse, then to the approved successor, and only when there is none, to the heir under a probate order or an inheritance order, subject to the principle that the farm unit passes to a single heir.

Under newer lease contracts signed with the Israel Land Authority in recent years, the rights generally pass under the will or the inheritance order, still subject to the prohibition on dividing the farm unit. That is why the first thing to check is which contract applies to the farm and what it provides.

Section 114 of the Succession Law deals with an agricultural farm in an estate and is meant to prevent its division: the farm is given to one heir who is willing and able to maintain it, and that heir compensates the other heirs. Whether the section applies, and whether the person receiving the farm must compensate the siblings, depends on the contract with the authorities, the appointment and the will. The courts have held more than once that when, under the contract, the farm unit is not part of the estate, the ordinary rules of succession do not apply to it.

Disputes Between Siblings and How to Prevent Them

Most disputes over a designated successor arise after a death: a sibling who built a house on the farm unit with the parents' consent, a later will that contradicts an old appointment, or an appointment that was never completed with the cooperative and the settlement body. The courts examine what the parents actually did, which approvals were obtained and whether the appointment was revoked in the required way.

Proper planning is done during the parents' lifetime and in writing: an appointment completed with every body involved, a will that fits it and balances between the children, and regularization of the building on the farm unit. When there is already a dispute between the heirs, it is generally heard by the Family Court, and it is sometimes resolved through mediation between the siblings.

Designated Farm Successor throughout Israel

The firm represents clients from all over Israel: Jerusalem and the Shfela, Be'er Sheva, Ashdod and Ashkelon, Haifa and the North, the Sharon and Gush Dan. Meetings take place at our two Modiin branches, at the WE Towers branch in Tel Aviv or by video call, and documents can be sent in advance on WhatsApp. We represent clients in the courts, the Labor Courts and before planning committees throughout Israel. How we work with clients across Israel.

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