Mobile geolocation decides outcome of Tel Aviv apartment inheritance dispute

An inheritance dispute over a luxury property in the heart of Tel Aviv recently ended in the city's District Court after an exceptional piece of evidence tipped the scales: mobile phone geolocation, Google Timeline data, and notary testimony.

The affair began when a lonely 81-year-old woman from Tel Aviv passed away without a spouse or children. In her first will, drawn up in 2011, she determined that her apartment would be divided equally between an acquaintance and her cousin. However, in 2014, the deceased changed her decision, signing a new will that disinherited the cousin and bequeathed the entire apartment, along with her car and other property, to the acquaintance only.

Following her death, the cousin initiated a legal battle to cancel the updated document. She claimed the elderly woman was not fit to make decisions and that the acquaintance had exploited her weakness and was involved in drafting the will. In February 2023, the Family Court rejected her objection, leading to an appeal in the District Court.

The golden proof that revealed the truth

To address the claim that the acquaintance was present in the apartment and exerted pressure on the deceased on the day of signing, a court-appointed expert performed an in-depth technological examination of his mobile device's geolocation.

The expert's findings revealed an unequivocal picture: although the man arrived on a flight from Paris that day and traveled to the Tel Aviv area, the location check clearly showed he was not at the woman's residence when the will was written.

"The data shows unequivocally that the subscriber was not recorded at the address," the opinion stated.

Pressure surrounding the will? "She was alone in the apartment"

Supporting the technological evidence was the firm testimony of the notary who drafted the will. He testified that on the day of signing, the elderly woman was completely lucid, opened the door for him herself, and was entirely alone in the house. Additionally, two court-appointed medical experts determined that the deceased was "lucid prior to the signing of her will," meaning she was cognitively fit.

District Court judges — Einat Ravid (presiding), Naftali Shilo, and Yehezkel Eliyahu — rejected the appeal. Judge Ravid clarified in the verdict that no evidence of involvement or pressure by the acquaintance was found, and that the expert opinions were conclusive. The verdict confirmed the updated will, granting the Tel Aviv apartment to the acquaintance, and ordered the cousin to pay legal costs of 50,000 shekels.