French Law Expertise in Israel
Trained in France before her aliyah and then admitted to the Israel Bar, Maayan Abihssira practises at the meeting point of the two systems. She acts as a court-approved expert in French law before the Israeli courts, and the firm handles the full range of matters that straddle the two countries.
Expert evidence on French law before the Israeli courts
Where an Israeli court has to apply or interpret a rule of French law, it does not do so of its own motion: foreign law must be presented and proved to it. Maayan Abihssira acts in that capacity as an approved expert in French law before the Israeli courts and the rabbinical courts.
The situations concerned are more frequent than one might think: a French matrimonial regime to be characterised in a divorce pronounced in Israel, a contract concluded in France whose performance is disputed here, an estate governed wholly or partly by French law, a French judgment whose effect must be established.
Estates opened in France
A person resident in Israel leaving assets in France, or an Israeli heir called to a French estate, has to deal with two legal orders and two administrations. It must be determined which law governs which part of the estate, documents must be obtained in both countries, translated and apostilled, and the intervention of a French notaire coordinated with the Israeli procedure.
The firm runs these files from beginning to end and acts as a single point of contact, which spares the client from explaining their situation twice, in two languages, to two professionals who never speak to each other.
Powers of attorney and apostilles
Many Franco-Israeli steps can be completed remotely, provided the authority is granted in exactly the form the receiving administration expects. The firm draws up the notarial powers of attorney required, sets out precisely the applicable apostille or legalisation route, and checks documents for compliance before they are sent.
This is an area where a formal error costs weeks: a rejected document has to be redone, re-apostilled and sent again.
Notarial translations between French and Hebrew
Civil status records, divorce judgments, diplomas, company documents, bank certificates, administrative decisions: papers moving between France and Israel almost always need a translation certified by a notary fluent in both languages.
The firm issues those certified translations in French, Hebrew and English, so the file and its translation are handled in the same place.
Buying or selling in Israel from abroad
The firm acts for buyers and sellers living outside Israel. The contract can be signed on their behalf under a power of attorney, and the essential clauses are translated for them before anything is signed.
The questions specific to non-residents are examined in advance: the structure of the transaction, the timetable for payments from abroad, the acquisition tax applicable, and the practical arrangements for registration at a distance.
Speaking your own language
Beyond the technical side there is a simple reality: explaining a family matter, an estate or a debt is already difficult in one's mother tongue. Doing it in a language learned late, with legal vocabulary one does not command, often means leaving out what matters most.
The firm receives and advises its clients in Hebrew, French and English. Nobody has ever properly defended a case they did not fully understand.
For a matter that touches both France and Israel, contact the firm. The first meeting allows a review of the steps to be taken in each country and of the order in which to take them.