Bekerman Efrati, Feuerstein Tayar – Law Office

Bekerman-Efrati, Feuerstein-Tayar is a boutique law firm in the field of family, estate and guardianship laws. The firm was established in 2013 as the result of a merger between the two solo firms led by Advocates Shelley Feuerstein-Tayar and Shlomit Bekerman Efrati, two well-known attorneys in their field with over 40 years’ worth of combined professional experience, and who also enjoy the court’s trust and high regard. The firm often lectures on family wealth management to private and commercial entities, including financial institutes such as: Bank Discount, mega-corporations such as Elbit and The Central Bottling Company (CBC, Coca-Cola Israel), healthcare organizations such as the Maccabi HMO and the Lev HaSharon Hospital, Private companies such as Oracle Ltd., insurance companies, accounting firms and various public entities such as the municipalities of Rishon LeZion and Nes Ziona, the Airforce Association, The Teacher’s Histadrut, IDF, Policepersons Funds etc. Among the leading family law firms in Israel, The Feuerstein-Tayar, Bekerman-Efrati firm is also unique since its legal services are offered directly by both the founding partners. This unique structure offers redoubled legal strength to the clients, under one roof. The joint activities of the two, form a blend that excels in pragmatic and original thinking, while maintaining outstanding professional capabilities, and is highly esteemed by the legal community.

Family Wealth Management

Alongside its vast operations in all fields of family, inheritance and guardianship law, the firm has extensive operations in the field of family wealth management, servicing high-net-worth families that own assets worth from tens of millions of Shekels and up to a billion Shekels which are held in Israel and abroad, including public companies. The services include solutions for tax planning, dual citizenships and residencies, children with cognitive and emotional complexities, and handling corporate documents, as well as coordinating between the legal systems of several continents.
The firm has clients with a complex assets profile, from both aspects of the assets’ scope and their type. For example, the firm handles families that hold groups of corporations in the infrastructures, construction, textiles, hi-tech, food, pension insurance, investment management and medical equipment industries, clients who made international exits etc., ranging from tens of millions of NIS and up to 1 billion NIS. The firm cooperates closely with other family office firms that manage investment portfolios of tens of millions of NIS, and several tax law firms in Israel and the U.S., including the ERM firm , which handles complex and intricate asset portfolios.

Thorough Legel Expertise in Will Contestation and Guardianship

The firm’s partners hold knowledge and legal experience especially suited to complex cases that involve objections to wills, as well as guardianship disputes. This legal competency, coupled with impressive litigation abilities propelled the firm to a line of successes in such complex cases. Moreover, the firm receives many solicitations from clients who lost in their initial legal proceedings, and ask that the firm represent their appeal process.

A Specialization in Third-Agers

The firm developed and perfected a subspeciality for managing the interests of aging individuals (preparing for the third age) and their extended families, making use of the services of professionals from the fields of gerontology, neuropsychology etc.; Including Adv. Feuerstein-Tayar’s education as a gerontologist and Adv. Bekerman-Efrati’s court-appointment as a legal guardian in complex cases, in order to implement multidisciplinary tools into the drafting of the legal documents. The firm also handles cases of early retirement, particularly for defense forces and public service retirees.
Counseling Corporations, Institutions and Kibbutzim
The firm counsels both individuals and mega-corporations such as CBC, ERM law and Kibbutzim, on all aspects of legal management of family wealth and family matters. The firm supports the family wealth management functions of Kibbutzim across Israel, integrating as a leading law firm that specializes in drafting wills and lasting power of attorney in old and renewing Kibbutzim, with all their distinct complex issues, and in particular the issue of land allocation and Kibbutz privatization. The firm has expanded its service offering to a line of Kibbutzim while creating unique and dedicated models which are tailored to the legal situation of each Kibbutz.

Advising Clients on Relocations

The firm assists clients who are in the process of relocating abroad and hold assets either in Israel or abroad. These are typically younger clients and families and the firm aids their relocation process, both by helping them acquire capital abroad and handle local tax policies and by facilitating intrafamily matters.
Managing Cases with Issues of Private International Law, the firm handles divorce and estate disputes that require rulings in matters of private international law while collaborating with foreign law firms. This includes, inter alia, handling jurisdiction issues in cases of the separation of Israelis who relocated, immigration issues and the applicability of the Hague Convention, handling foreign estates, enforcement of external rulings, the validity of LPAs that were drafted abroad, in Israel etc., enforcement of foreign wills in Israel etc.

Adv. Shlomit Bekerman-Efrati, Founding Partner

Adv. Shlomit Bekerman-Efrati holds an LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a certified mediator, including in the cooperative mediation method. Adv. Bekerman-Efrati has 20 years’ worth of professional experience and, side by side with her daily legal work she served as a lecturer for family law at Bar-Ilan University and the Hebrew University’s faculties of law and as an instructor and lecturer in professional and business forums, including the Israel Bar Association. She also served as a member of an IBA’s committee, as a member of the IBA’s disciplinary court and is appointed as a legal guardian on behalf of the court.

Adv. Shelley Feuerstein-Tayar, Founding Partner

Adv. Shelley Feuerstein-Tayar is a Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law graduate (cum laude), and has a B.A. in communications from Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Social Sciences, a Master’s degree in Gerontology from Bar Ilan University (magna cum laude) and is also a certified mediator, including in the cooperative mediation method.. Before the establishment of the firm, Adv. Feuerstein-Tayar served as an attorney at one of the largest firms in Israel. Adv. Feuerstein -Tayar holds 20 years’ worth of professional experience, and concurrently with her legal practice, she lectures to private gatherings and professional confabs on intergenerational transfer of wealth, and also serves as a legal consultant for major commercial law firms.