Gay NYC judge challenges will ordering him to marry woman

The attached story from NBCNews.com talks about the will of a wealthy man who set up trusts for his grandchildren. The man, Frank Mandelbaum, had included a clause in his will that said the trust would exclude any children who were adopted by his son Robert while Robert was single, and exclude any biological child Robert might have if Robert didn't marry the child's mother within six months.

The will causes a problem for Robert, who is gay. He is married to a man, and he and his partner have a two-year-old son. Robert says that his father was accepting of Robert being gay and in fact socialized with Robert and his partner. Robert believes that the trust in the will should include his son, though the letter of the will would appear to exclude the son. (You'll note that the will doesn't in fact order him to marry anyone, despite the sensational headline NBCNews attached to the story).

Robert is challenging the will. The issue will be whether the father's instructions are to be taken strictly literally, or whether they are to be interpreted as intending to exclude children who are not born within a stable relationship. Both are interesting arguments, and you can read more about them and get more facts about the case by clicking on the link below to read the story. It's a truly interesting case.

Gay NYC judge challenges will ordering him to marry woman