Marry a Jew, get a quarter-mil? Seems fair to me…

The Associated Press reported today that the Illinois Supreme Court has okayed a "Jews-only" inheritance - at least that's the moniker the Chronicle gave the concept in the headline on the front page of SFGate.

I clicked through and learned that the story is really about a Chicago man who stipulated in his will that his grandchildren would only inherit his money if they married Jews.

The article is pretty interesting, so I encourage you to read it.  Basically, what it comes down to is that a trust was set up for the man's money, which was controlled by his widow. When she died, her will imposed the same restrictions on the money as her late husband.

Her grandchildren (four of the five of whom had married non-Jews) sued, arguing that "it was improper for a will to set up conditions that promote religious intolerance in people's marriage decisions or even encouraged couples to divorce."

What do you think, people? I don't necessarily agree with the stipulation to begin with, but it WAS his money, and he could do what he wanted with it. No one is entitled to any inheritance. Maybe it's easy for me to say this because I don't stand to inherit a quarter-mil from my grandparents (I don't think...?), but the grandkids sound like money-grubbing ninnies. The will may not have been fair, but life's not fair. The whole thing sounds like a situation that could have been chalked up to "Grandpa's being intolerant, we don't like it, but it's his money" and not involved the highest court in Illinois.

Frankly, it sounds like a great setup for a romantic comedy (à la the Chris O'Donnell movie "The Bachelor" or "The Princess Diaries 2") - a girl's four older siblings marry non-Jews, and she'll inherit all their shares if she marries a Jew. She sets out on a string of JDates, but ends up falling for a Catholic jazz musician. Complications ensue. You can thank me at the Oscars (or the Razzies).

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