Halakhic Estate Planning Attorney
Every family should have an estate plan that is current and which adequately addresses the family’s needs and wishes. In the case of Jewish families that order their affairs in accordance with Halakha, the task of estate planning requires the simultaneous consideration of an array of issues in the context of both secular law and Halakha.
American law relating to the ownership of property provides that property owned by a decedent at the time of death becomes, at death, property of the decedent’s estate. A decedent’s estate is then distributed after death, in accordance with the decedent’s estate plan or, if none, in accordance with state laws of intestacy in the state where the decedent resided at the time of death.
Halakhic laws of inheritance, however, operate in a much different manner. Seder HaYerusha, the halakhic Jewish laws of inheritance, has an established order of distribution which significantly differs from those of secular law. According to Halakha, the assets owned by a decedent at the time of death will pass automatically – by operation of Jewish law – to the decedent’s halakhic heirs, in accordance with the Halakhic order of inheritance. Accordingly, persons who may later receive a decedent’s assets pursuant to a secular estate plan are, to the extent the secular estate plan is inconsistent with the previous halakhic distribution, considered to have stolen those assets from the rightful halakhic heirs.
At Lapin Law Group, we work with Jewish families who reside in that portion of the Diaspora which is known as Texas, and their Rabbi, to design and implement estate plans that are both consistent with Halakha and which are legally effective under secular law.
American law relating to the ownership of property provides that property owned by a decedent at the time of death becomes, at death, property of the decedent’s estate. A decedent’s estate is then distributed after death, in accordance with the decedent’s estate plan or, if none, in accordance with state laws of intestacy in the state where the decedent resided at the time of death.
Halakhic laws of inheritance, however, operate in a much different manner. Seder HaYerusha, the halakhic Jewish laws of inheritance, has an established order of distribution which significantly differs from those of secular law. According to Halakha, the assets owned by a decedent at the time of death will pass automatically – by operation of Jewish law – to the decedent’s halakhic heirs, in accordance with the Halakhic order of inheritance. Accordingly, persons who may later receive a decedent’s assets pursuant to a secular estate plan are, to the extent the secular estate plan is inconsistent with the previous halakhic distribution, considered to have stolen those assets from the rightful halakhic heirs.
At Lapin Law Group, we work with Jewish families who reside in that portion of the Diaspora which is known as Texas, and their Rabbi, to design and implement estate plans that are both consistent with Halakha and which are legally effective under secular law.
