Is your Last Will and Testament in line with your religious beliefs? Jewish Law and Florida Probate Law are DIFFERENT but you can merge them with careful estate planning.

A recent Florida law proposed would ban all foreign law from being used in   Florida, aimed at eliminating the potential for Sharia law taking over Florida (Ill let you be the judge if that was a real concern?) may also invalidate your wills that rely on Jewish or other religious law! Luckily you can also plan your estate in accordance with religious law without relying on it, read more to learn how. 

• halakha is jewish law which comes from two sources: the Old Testament and the oral law which has since been codified i.e. written down in what is called the misnah and gemara or together the talmud.
• the laws governing Jewish inheritance are found in the Book of Numbers 27:8 and Book of Deuteronomy in 21:17,
• Under halakha a decedent’s property transfers automatically to certain beneficiaries regardless of if there is a will. Inheritance is more like creditors in Florida probate – there is a system of priority.
• A person of “first priority” that is available, will inherit the entire estate but if no member of that class is alive then it is divided per stirpes to the other classes.
• Under Jewish law having a will that goes against these principles is technically a violation of jewish law to some observers. Worse the beneficiaries under our law would be considered as stealing from the estate under Jewish law. 
• Lucky for the readers this experienced Palm Beach Probate Attorney has devised 4 ways to have your cake and eat it too, in other words you can plan an estate under Florida Probate that is consistent with Jewish law. 

1. Inter vivos or live gifting: this one is simple, turn your estate plans into your today plans! Simply gift what you want to be given away that is not in accordance with jewish law and then leave the rest to the Torah. Just create deeds of gift but do not make them effective until one hour before your death. 
2. Transfers to a Revocable Trust another method is for the testator to transfer the property while they are alive into a revocable trust whereby the owner would act as both trustee and beneficiary until his death and then turn the beneficiary into his wife and children. The problem? You have to keep transfering trust property as you get it or this method is not useful.
3. Doctrine of “Dina d’Malchuta Dina” this doctrine basicaly means that Jews have to follow local law as well. For example under Jewish law you have to pay all tax obligations owed, some Jewish thinkers say that probate laws should be the same. This is not to say that this view is widely accepted and some jewish thinkers say this only affects wills already written, not during the fact.
4. Estate Indebtedness this method is highly favored especially by the ultra-religious who need their estate plans to fall within the Jewish law for sure, one hundred percent. Under this method, an individual executes a standard will in cobination with a promissory note to an individual who would no be an heir under Jewish law. The note provides for an obligation far in excess of the projected value of the estate, and wuld be payable within moments of the testator’s death. This technique works because the note gives the beneficiaries under jewish law the option of either paying the debt from the estateor consenting to the terms of the testators’ will. This forces the beneficiaries under jewish law to agree to the distribution thereby making the award not a theft from the estate!

These techniques are even trickier than normal estate planning and should only be tackled with an experienced Palm Beach Probate Attorney!