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.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
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