A Manhattan businessman stipulated in his will that his gay son's child would not receive any inheritance unless that son was to marry a woman.
The late Frank Mandelbaum, who died in 2007, stated that unless his son, Robert, was “married to the child's mother within six months of the child's birth,” the children would not receive their share of a $180,000 trust, The New York Post reports.
Robert Mandelbaum, a 47-year-old Manhattan Criminal Court judge who is gay, married partner Jonathan O’Donnell in August of 2011, after New York passed the Marriage Equality Act. Shortly after, the couple had a child, Cooper, via a surrogate mother.
Frank Mandelbaum, 73, founded the ID verification company Intelli-Check.
Now Robert thinks 16-month-old Cooper deserves a share of the trust reserved for Frank’s three grandchildren and is battling in court to prove that Frank’s will is discriminatory, and in violation of state law.
“Requiring a gay man to marry a woman … to ensure his child's bequest is tantamount to expecting him either to live in celibacy, or to engage in extramarital activity with another man, and is therefore contrary to public policy,” the couple’s attorney, Anne Bederka, wrote in court papers. “There is no doubt that what [Frank Mandelbaum] has sought to do is induce Robert to marry a woman.”
The settlement is the only way to solve the dispute over Cooper, Robert Mandelbaum claims in court papers, because the will “imposes a general restraint on marriage by compelling Robert Mandelbaum . . . to enter into a sham marriage” which he says violates state law supporting marriage equality.
A law guardian appointed to look out for Cooper's interests agreed that there are “significant public policy reasons” for ignoring the dead father's dictate.
This has prompted Frank Mandelbaum's wife, Ann Freeman, to say in court papers that “my husband's will specifically prohibited such a child from becoming a beneficiary.” Frank Mandelbaum was well aware that his son was gay, Robert claimed in court papers, noting that his partner was included in family dinners and vacations.
The Manhattan Surrogate's Court has yet to approve a settlement to ignore Frank Mandelbaum's demand as discriminatory and against New York law.
