If There’s a Will… with Allan Gibber   

There’s also a workaround with which the oldest can be moichel his share in favor of his mother or sibling. But if the oldest is still a halachic minor, he doesn’t have the ability to be moichel. The parent would then not be able to access that money and use it to help raise the child.

I’ve also had cases where the business belonged to both spouses, and then one died. So what happens? Who inherits the business, the spouse or the oldest child? Does the surviving spouse lose her income in favor of her children? It becomes a real, real issue — and often causes a lot of family conflict.

Bottom line is, halachah doesn’t grant a person the right to control where his property goes after he dies. So if a person does want to do something other than the halachic default, he needs to address that while he still can.

Can a will override the default halachos of inheritance?

Yes. The Gemara talks about this and explains that while a person is still alive, he can designate his property as a gift that he will give to the beneficiary the moment before he dies. That’s one halachic resolution.