Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Pinchas
inherit; is their request valid in Torah & civil
law? According to civil law, all children - sons
& daughters, adopted & natural - inherit equally.
According to halacha, if there are natural sons,
then daughters & adopted sons do not inherit at
all. In civil law, upon the death of a spouse,
the surviving spouse inherits the estate. In
Torah law, a husband inherits from his wife, but
a wife does not inherit from her husband; the
sons do. In civil law, there is no distinction
between paternal & maternal relatives; but
halacha holds that maternal relatives are not
considered relatives regarding halachot of
inheritance. Civil law doesn’t differentiate
between a 1st-born son & younger siblings;
halacha does; the first-born receives a "double
portion" of (certain parts) of the estate.
But - according to most poskim, one may specify
exactly how the assets should be distributed; &
certainly one can (should?) distribute assets
while he/she is still alive to avoid family strife.
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