Illinois Supreme
Court got it right
in "Jews only" inheritance case
The
Illinois Supreme Court got it right, yesterday, when
they ruled that a person has a right to limit who can
inherit one's money, on the basis of religion.
The case the court ruled
on, as reported in this
Chicago Tribune story, involved Erla and Max
Feinberg. Max, a Jewish dentist, wrote a will that
provided that his estate would go to his wife, which is
usual and customary. Upon his wife's death, his
substantial wealth would go to his five grandchildren.
However, Max put a clause in his will that said that any
grandchild who married outside of the faith would be dis-inherited.
Apparently, four of the five grandchildren married
gentiles, a big no-no in Jewish tradition.
One of the five grandchildren felt that it was unfair
to be dis-inherited for marrying Goy, so she sued. And
lost.
The disgruntled granddaughter doesn't seem to understand
that it's Grandpa's and Grandma's money, to do with as
they please. They didn't owe her a cent.
Max and Erla could
have given all of their money to their children, instead
of to the grandchildren. They could have given all of
their money to charity, leaving nothing to family.
They could have even given the money to me, in honor
of my battles to fight injustice, one victory at a
time. That would have been cool!
What the granddaughter doesn't seem to understand is
that the executor of the estate is required to act in
the same way that the deceased would have acted if the
deceased were still alive to distribute the money
himself.
It was Max and Erla's money. They could have given
their own money to anybody they wanted to. It's their
money, to do with as they please. If granddaughter
doesn't like it, too bad. It's not her money.
I relate especially closely
to this story because I was raised in a Jewish family
with similar values as the Feinbergs. I married
Celeste, a wonderful Catholic girl who has turned out to
be the perfect wife, perfect in every way.
Dinner with Celeste at
Le Titi de Paris
French Restaurant in Arlington Heights, IL.
The perfect dinner with the perfect wife. Photo by
Le Titi staff.
My two brothers married "nice Jewish girls
from good families." Mom and Dad could have dis-inherited
me and given my share of the money to my brothers, for
my marrying a girl from a non-Jewish family, for any
other reason of their choice (such as going atheist on
them) or for no reason at all. It was their money and
entirely their prerogative.
They didn't owe me a dime and, actually, I would have
preferred that they were still around to spend the money
on themselves, but they're not. So, thanks, Mom and
Dad, for dividing your millions equally between my two
brothers and me. The airplane that I bought with some
of the money is really neat!
The Flying Sherman-ator. Photo by Celeste Sherman.
