Th
Attorneys, working
with rabbis, are
helping clients draft
wills that conform to
Jewish law.
DAVID ZEMAN STAFF WRITER
Be Done
ew people enjoy think-
ing about death. Life,
after all, is for the liv-
ing. Wills, on the other
hand, are for poor
schnooks on their
deathbed, right?
Well, of course not. Even
young couples in perfect
health should consider a
will, if for no other reason
—.- than to name a guardian for
their children should they
die. In most cases, it is a simple
matter.
But drafting a will that also com-
ports with Jewish law can be a
knotty and bewildering undertak-
ing.
"This is such a complicated
area," said Gary Schwarcz, a Farm-
ington Hills lawyer who works with
area rabbis to help clients draft
wills reflecting their religious val-
ues.
Mr. Schwarcz is one of several
Jewish lawyers who have noticed
an upsurge in recent years of
clients seeking to conform their sec-
ular wills to Halachah, or Jew-
ish law.
"It's a natural part of their es-
tate planning," he said. "And it's
very personal in nature because
you're dealing with an individ-
ual's innermost personal desires."
Admittedly, the easiest way to
comply with Jewish law is to
draft no will at all, in which case
biblical laws of succession kick
in. This is great if you are: A)
lazy, B) confident no family
member will try to enforce civil
laws concerning inheritance, or
C) the male offspring of the per-
son leaving the estate.
Under biblical law, when a
person dies with no will, males
— especially firstborn males —
tend to hog the proceeds, with
the daughters getting a share only
if they have no brothers.
But if you have fixed ideas about
how you want your estate passed,
there are attorneys, working close-
ly with rabbis, who can help you
bridge the differences between civ-
il and Jewish law and pass your
holdings to the people most impor-
tant to you.
"There should be no such thing
as a will that only conforms to Ha-
lachah and not to civil law," said
Rabbi Asher Eisenberger, dayan at
Congregation Agudas Yisroel-Mo-
gen Abraham in Southfield. "We
can accommodate both systems."
So how does an observant Jew
get around the biblical formula for
inheritance? Well, talmudic schol-
ars considered this conundrum and
found a way to give people more
flexibility in distributing their es-
tate.
They note that the laws of suc-
cession apply only to inheritance.
These laws do not apply when a
person passes his property in the
form of a gift during his lifetime.
So a construct has been devel-
oped in which the person making
a will uses the terminology of a gift
to pass property, but provides that
beneficiaries will not gain actual
possession of the property until his
death.
Think of it as a kind of Jewish
lay-away plan.
Drafted correctly, a will con-
forming to Jewish law will with-
stand the strictest scrutiny. And
take comfort in this: If you've raised
your children to revere and respect
the Torah, they will respect the
wishes of the deceased, even if the
deceased — namely, you — shaft-
ed them in the will.
If, on the other hand, you sus-
pect that your ungrateful middle
son will want to challenge the
measly $500 you left for him, there
are rabbinically approved ways to
discourage him from filing a court
challenge.
Attorney Maurice Rose of Farm-
ington Hills said some people write
provisions in their will calling for
their entire estate to go to a third
party if a beneficiary contests the
will. This is generally done through
the fiction of creating and ac-
knowledging a "debt" to the third
party that becomes due at the time
the estate owner dies.
On the other hand, you should
also note that Jewish law looks
dimly on parents who exclude their
own children from their estate.
"If a person gives his estate in
writing to strangers and leaves out
his children," the Mishnah warns,
"his arrangements are legally valid,
but the spirit of the Sages finds no
delight in him."
Which is another way of telling
parents what they preach to their
children all the time: We're not
mad at you; we're just very disap-
pointed. ❑
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