Fridae

In an unprecedented ruling, the Nazareth District Court ruled 2-1 on Sunday that same-sex couples have the same rights as married couples in inheritance rights.

The judges decided that the term "man and woman" as spelled out in the inheritance law could also include same sex couples.

The court accepted the petition of an elderly man from Kiryat Shmona, who appealed a decision by Family Court to prohibit him from inheriting the estate of his companion, after they had lived together for many years.

Two of three judges decided that an individual who maintained a joint household for some 40 years with his partner, who died four years ago, is eligible to inherit that partner's apartment even though a will had never been written concerning the matter.

The plaintiff, 77-year-old I.M., and his partner S.R., began their relationship in the early 1960s when they worked together at the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv, according to the Haaretz newspaper.

S.R. purchased an apartment in 1972 in which they both lived but died in 2000 without formally leaving the apartment to his partner. As he has no close family members who could be considered heirs, S.R.'s property must be transferred to the state, according to law.

According to the law, a woman and a man who share a household but are not married, are entitled to inherit their partner's property in the case of his or her death, as they would have if they were married to the deceased.

Judge Menahem Ben-David dissented saying: "The letter of the law is clear and unequivocal and you cannot read into it any meaning other than what is written - `man and woman.' The letter of the law cannot tolerate the interpretation according to which this would be `man and man.'"

The judges' however ruled that the phrase was not intended to deprive homosexuals and lesbians of common-law status, but rather simply to provide the right of inheritance to common-law couples who are not married.

The court also ruled that a family unit "can also be created without marriage and also if the two partners are of the same sex."

The city of Nazareth is believed to be the hometown of Jesus Christ and is home to 60,000, half of which are Muslim and a fifth, Christian.