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Posted on 10/22/2009 - Illinois Supreme Court upholds will restricting inheritance based on religion...
Posted on 9/30/2009
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Estate Administration and Probate
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Illinois Supreme Court upholds will restricting inheritance based on religion
Posted on Sep 30, 2009
An unusual will is garnering a great deal of attention in Illinois. The last will and testament of Dr. Max Feinberg has actually ended up before the Illinois Supreme Court because of a controversial provision that cut grandchildren married to non-Jews out of his will.
Dr. Feinberg felt strongly that the Jewish faith of his family should be protected and had his will written so that any grandchild who married outside of the faith would lose his or her inheritance unless their spouse converted to Judaism.
Feinberg created trusts for his family and died in 1986. The trusts were left in control of his wife Erla Feinberg. When she died in 2003 she included similar language in her will about preserving their Jewish heritage.
Four of Feinberg’s grandchildren married outside of the Jewish faith, and one married a Jewish woman. Because of the “religious preference clause” Feinberg’s estate has been subject to lawsuits, counterclaims and a ruling from the Illinois Supreme Court.
The high court overturned two lower court rulings in favor of the four disinherited grandchildren. In the ruling, Justice Rita Garman wrote "Equal protection does not require that all children be treated equally ... and the free exercise clause does not require a grandparent to treat grandchildren who reject his religious beliefs and customs in the same manner as he treats those who conform to his traditions."
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