She sued her mother – and the lasting power of attorney for property was cancelled
A daughter filed a major lawsuit against her mother, who had previously appointed her as her proxy. The court ruled that an external organization would take over the management of the elderly woman's assets due to a clear conflict of interest.
The Family Court in Jerusalem recently ruled that a daughter who sued her mother will not be able to continue managing her property affairs as a proxy under a lasting power of attorney. Judge Orly Shamai-Ketav reasoned that this constitutes a severe conflict of interest, and therefore the management of assets will be transferred to an external organization.
In October 2020, the mother executed a lasting power of attorney in favor of her daughter for all her affairs — property, personal, and medical. The power of attorney was not activated, and the daughter served as the mother's "de facto guardian." At a certain point, the daughter filed a massive lawsuit against her mother to declare herself the owner of a property and to approve bank transfers in the amount of millions of shekels, which were made from their joint account to her own account.
Against this background, the mother's three other children, who live abroad, petitioned to cancel the lasting power of attorney in favor of their sister and to appoint an external guardian for their mother. Their position was supported by a social worker from the Ministry of Welfare.
Judge Shamai-Ketav partially granted the siblings' request, ruling that there is no basis for canceling the lasting power of attorney in all its aspects, but only regarding the elderly woman's property affairs. She added that with the filing of the lawsuit, a severe conflict of interest was created:
"In this case, the respondent, as detailed, filed a lawsuit whose remedies encompass the bulk of the mother's property, if not all of it. The lawsuit relates both to the real estate property that was registered in the respondent's name, and to a sum significantly higher than the mother's funds, most of which had already been collected in practice by the respondent even before the lawsuit was filed."
The judge pointed out the absurdity that would arise if the daughter remained responsible for her mother's property affairs:
"She would not be able to manage the mother's defense against her own lawsuit, nor would she be able to file lawsuits against herself if required."
It was further noted that for the purpose of filing a statement of defense on behalf of the mother, an external and impartial body is required to perform the appropriate checks and formulate the grounds for defense. Therefore, the judge ordered the cancellation of the lasting power of attorney regarding property and appointed the "Mishlav" organization as the responsible party. The validity of the lasting power of attorney in favor of the daughter regarding medical and personal affairs remains in effect and is hereby activated.
