Halachic Estate Protection

a project of the Business Halachah Institute

The Concern:

People often do not consider the distribution of their estate until their later years. If a person dies without a will, not only will he have no say in the division of his estate, but it is likely to generate strife in his family he leaves behind. According to Halachah, in the absence of a properly prepared tzavaah (the Hebrew word for directive), one’s estate is inherited exclusively by his male heirs. Moreover, according to some Poskim, even if one prepared a secular will, in the absence of a tzavaah, his widow and daughters have no halachic claim to his estate.

The Solution:

To ensure that your wife and daughters receive a share of your estate and to avoid conflict, one should prepare a tzavaah that complies with Halachah. A comprehensive and detailed tzavaah, if necessary, should be prepared by a rabbi or lawyer familiar with estate Halachah. As a first step to save time and expense, one can prepare a tzavaah with the assistance of this website. This tzavaah will provide interim protection for your widow and daughters until you prepare a more comprehensive tzavaah. For legal protection, you might also need a secular will.

Do-It-Yourself Tzavaah Templates:

If you already have a secular will or trust, a tzavaah is necessary to ensure that the instructions in your will are halachically binding. If you do not have a secular will or tzavaah, our do-it-yourself tzavaah will ensure that in the interim your instructions are halachically binding.

Please note: This program is not designed for people who have only son(s) or only daughter(s).

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO HILCHOS YERUSHA

Estate planning is never a pleasant task, yet an important one. Without proper planning, a large share of one's wealth may be lost to taxation. What is left over may be distributed in a manner that does not reflect one's values or expectations. Furthermore, poor planning can cause tension between family members, with feelings that they did not get their fair share of the assets and may find themselves locked into unworkable partnerships