Legal News

Marry Goyim, You Get Bupkis; Illinois Court Strikes ?Jewish Clause?

By Dan Slater

We’d like to reach out to the Illinois bar exam takers and ask: Can an Illinois court enforce a will provision that any of the testator’s grandchildren who marry outside the Jewish faith be deemed deceased? In other words, can the testator say that if his grandchildren marry goyim they get bupkis?

This is the controversial “Jewish clause” from Max Feinberg’s will, and it’s caused some serious infighting among his descendants. Feinberg, a dentist, and his wife, Erla, had “considerable assets after their deaths,” according to a June opinion from an Illinois appeals court, which voted 2-1 to declare the provision unenforceable because it’s contrary to public policy.

For the particulars of the family feud, click here for a report from the Chicago Tribune.

Citing a section from the Restatement Third of Trusts, the majority struck down Feinberg’s “Jewish clause” because “it seriously interferes with and limits the right of individuals to marry a person of their own choosing.”

The dissenter thought Max Feinberg should be able to do what he wants with his money. The dissenter wrote: “Max and Erla had a dream with respect to the provisions of their will and if you will it, it is no dream.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 25, 2008 (boomark / email).