New Jersey Won’t Prevent Religious-Based Disinheritance

Religious discrimination won’t stop disinheritance in New Jersey.

A New Jersey appellate court has ruled against the daughter of a man who filed charges when she claimed she was disinherited because of religious discrimination, according to the Associated Press in “Appeal denied for daughter disinherited from father's will.”

It seems that New Jersey resident Kenneth Jameson drafted a will in 1987 that specifically disinherited his daughter Stacy Wolin because she was selfish, manipulative, cruel and abusive. Jameson passed away in 2014 and the daughter has been attempting to get the courts to disregard the disinheritance.

She claims the real reason she was disinherited is that her Catholic parents objected to her dating a Jewish man in college. She later married the man, presumably against her parents’ wishes.

The court ruled that New Jersey’s anti-discrimination laws do not disallow a discriminatory disinheritance. It decided that courts are required to uphold wills even if they are contrary to the principles of justice and humanity as long as the person drafting the will was competent to do so.

It is not known whether Wolin plans to appeal the decision to a higher court.

The laws on disallowing a disinheritance or other will provisions as against public policy vary from state to state and are normally decided on an ad hoc basis by courts when specific issues are raised.

Reference: Associated Press (Aug. 14, 2016) “Appeal denied for daughter disinherited from father's will.”