Wills and Inheritance – Page 2 – Joseph William Singer

More states recognize same-sex marriage

May 17, 2013 / Antidiscrimination Law, Marital Property, Sexual Orientation, Wills and Inheritance

Within the last month or so, new states have recognized same-sex marriage. They are Delaware, Rhode Island, and Minnesota. All did so legislatively. Del. Code, tit. 13, §§101 to 122, as amended by 2013 Del. HB 75 (May 8, 2013); R.I. Gen. Laws §§15-1-1 to 15-1-5, as amended by 2013 R.I. Pub. Laws 4 (2013 R.I. HB 5015); Minn. Stat. §§517.01 to 517.09, as amended by 2013 Minn. Sess. Law Serv., ch. 74 (H.F. 1054) (May 14, 2013). Internationally, recent additions to the list include France, New Zealand, and Uruguay. As of May 17, 2013, there are now thirteen jurisdictions (12 states and the District of Columbia) that recognize same -sex marriage in the U.S. They include Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Three American Indian nations also recognize same-sex marriage, including the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and …

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European Union dispute about inheritance rights of children

October 17, 2009 / Wills and Inheritance

Both Great Britain and the United States have long traditions of letting individuals write wills to determine who owns their property when they die. Those laws are tempered by statutes protecting the rights of spouses to some portion of the decedent’s estate. But both countries allow parents to disinherit their children. See Estate of Max Feinberg, 2009 WL 3063395 (Ill. 2009)(lawful to refuse to leave property to grandchildren because they married non-Jews). However, most other countries in Europe consider it both remarkable and close to barbaric to allow parents to disinherit their children; indeed, in 26 of 27 European Union countries, a large part of the estate of the deceased is reserved in equal shares for surviving children. This difference has erupted into a dramatic conflict as the EU announced rules for distribution of property located in more than one EU country. Not only do the two sides have differing views of …

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Will provision disinheriting grandchildren who married non-Jews held not to violate public policy

October 8, 2009 / Antidiscrimination Law, Marital Property, Trusts, Wills and Inheritance

On September 24, 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the provisions of a will disinheriting the decedent’s grandchildren for marrying non-Jews. In re Estate of Max Feinberg, 2009 WL 3063395 (Ill. 2009).