Lesson # 243 • Doubtful Heirs

Assume that after Reuven dies and his estate is divided aming his sons, another person, Levi, comes forward and declares that he too is a son of Reuven. There is a doubt as to the legitimacy of the claim of Levi.

Presumption regarding heirs
The general principle regarding heirs is that when an estate is to be divided, and if there are presumed heirs and doubtful heirs, those who are presumed to be heirs divide the estate and those who are only doubtful heirs do not receive anything. The presumption can arise when at least two witnesses testify before Beth Din that they know it as a fact or it was known to them and to the members of the community at large for a prolonged period of time that Shimon and Dan are the sons of Reuven. Thus Shimon and Dan have inherited or are about to inherit their father Reuven's estate. Levi appears on the scene and pleads that he is also a son of Reuven, and therefore entitled to his share of Reuven's estate; Levi produces no proof or testimony to buttress his claim. Shimon and Dan plead that they do not recognize Levi to be a son of Reuven. The claim of Levi will be dismissed.

In those situations where it is not known whether Reuven had any heirs and now Levi and Yehuda claim that they are the sons of Reuven, since both are doubtful heirs of the same category, they divide the estate.

They could both have claimed that they were uncles of Reuven, if that is the earliest category of heirs to inherit Reuven. It goes without saying that Beth Din will have to be convinced that these two persons are the heirs of Reuven for them to divide Reuven's estate.

Reuven dies and Shimon and Dan are proven or reputed to be his sons. The community has no information one way or the other if Reuven left other sons. Levi arrives on the scene and claims that he is also a son of Reuven and demands to receive a one-third share of the estate of Reuven. Shimon acknowledges Levi to be a brother but Dan denies any knowledge whether Levi is a son of Reuven. Levi can compel Dan to take an oath that he really does not have any knowledge whether Levi is a son of Reuven. Dan receives one half of Reuven's estate, Shimon receives one-third of the estate, and Levi receives one-sixth of Reuven's estate.

Shimon receives one-third because he acknowledges that there are three brothers to share the estate. Levi receives one-half of that which Shimon acknowledges to be Levi's rightful part of the estate. Thereafter Levi dies and leaves no children or other issue, and his father Reuven died before him resulting in his brothers Shimon and Dan (his father's sons) being his heirs. Assume that Levi, when he dies, still has the assets, the one-sixth that he received from Reuven's estate, or other assets that can be traced back to the assets that Levi inherited from Reuven. Beth Din will determine if such assets are traceable to that which Levi inherited from Reuven. Such assets are first returned to Shimon. Then Shimon and Dan divide the balance of Levi's assets equally.

Doubt if the inheriting heir is alive
Reuven dies and leaves no sons surviving him. Reuven is known to have an only child, a daughter, Sarah. Sarah went abroad many years ago and it is not known if she is alive. Reuven left a father, Yaakov, surviving him. If Sarah is not alive when Reuven dies, Yaakov is Reuven's heir. There is a presumption before Beth Din that Sarah is alive. Sarah is a definite heir of Reuven and unless it can be shown otherwise, Beth Din will presume that since Sarah was alive when she went abroad, she is still alive now. Yaakov is only a doubtful heir, depending upon whether or not Sarah is alive. Yaakov receives nothing and Beth Din holds the assets or appoints a conservator to conserve the assets. The general principle regarding heirs is that those who are presumed to be heirs divide the estate and those who are only doubtful heirs do not receive anything.

However, if Sarah was married to Naftali and she and Naftali went abroad and it is known that they died before Reuven, Sarah having died first, but it is not known if Sarah had any children, such children, if any; are doubtful heirs of Reuven; Yaakov, Reuven's father, is now a definite heir because he inherits from Reuven. Yaakov will inherit the assets of Reuven. Should issue of Sarah appear, then they will displace Yaakov as Reuven's heir and retrieve from Yaakov that which he inherited from Reuven.

Simultaneous deaths
Reuven is married to Sarah and they have a son, Shlomo. Sarah dies and Reuven marries Leah, who has assets of her own, and they have a son, David. Then Reuven dies. Leah and David perish in an automobile accident, and it is not known who, if either of them, died first.

Shlomo, who is the closest heir of David, being his brother by a common father, Reuven, pleads that Leah died first and thus David inherited the assets of Leah; in turn, Shlomo inherits the assets of David. The heirs of Leah, such as her father, Pinchas pleads that David died first so that Leah's heir is Pinchas. The heirs of Leah will prevail since her assets belong to her estate until it can be proved otherwise, and Pinchas is certainly her heir. The heirs of David will not prevail because at best there is a doubt whether David survived Leah. A similar situation will prevail if Reuven and his only child, his daughter, Penina, who is married to Aryeh, died in an automobile accident. The father of Reuven pleads that Penina died first and therefore he, the father, is Reuven's heir. Aryeh pleads that Reuven died first and thus Penina inherited the assets of Reuven, and Aryeh inherited the assets from her. The father of Reuven will inherit Reuven's assets, since the assets are presumed to remain where they were before, in the estate of Reuven. Thus his heirs, in this case, the father, inherit the assets, and Aryeh is considered to be a doubtful heir of Reuven.

A house collapsed on Yaakov and his daughter Sarah's son, Levi, and it is not known who died first in this occurrence. (Sarah had died sometime before.) If the grandfather Yaakov died first, then Levi is his heir and the heirs of Levi inherit Yaakov's estate. If Levi died first, Yaakov's estate belongs to Yaakov's heirs. Rambam ruled that the estate of Yaakov is to be divided equally between the heirs of Levi and the heirs of Yaakov.

Yosef, who has considerable assets, has an only son, Asher. Asher owed money to Benjamin, and could not pay the debt. Yosef and Asher died in a plane crash and it is not known who, if either of them, died first. Benjamin pleads that Yosef died first so that Asher inherited Yosef's assets and now the estate of Yosef can pay Benjamin the debt owed to him. The other heirs of Yosef plead that Asher died first so that Yosef did not inherit from him and they; the other heirs, inherit from Yosef and Benjamin gets nothing. The other heirs of Yosef prevail since the money is in his estate and there is no proof to give the moneys to Asher.

The subject matter of this lesson is more fully discussed in volume VIII chapters 273 of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by E. Quint. Copies of all volumes can be purchased via email: orders@gefenpublishing.com and via website: www.israelbooks.com and at local Judaica bookstores. Questions to quint@inter.net.il

[The Parshat Matot-Mas'ei Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]
[www.ou.org]