NJ woman said disowned over Jewish spouse loses appeal

HADDONFIELD, NJ — A New Jersey woman who claims her father wrongly disinherited her because of her romantic relationship with a Jewish man has lost another round in her legal fight to set aside the will.

A New Jersey appellate court recently upheld a lower court ruling that found Kenneth Jameson did nothing illegal when he specified that his only surviving child, Stacy Wolin, should not get anything from his estate. Jameson contended that his daughter had not returned “the love, care and concern which I lavished” on her and instead “acted toward me with selfishness, manipulation, cruelty and with abusiveness.”

Jameson was 81 when he died in April 2014. The Haddonfield man left his estate to a nonprofit that serves people with developmental disabilities.

Wolin claims the will, drafted in 1987, should be set aside because her father’s decision stemmed from religious bias. She contended that her father’s actions violated the state’s bias laws and that the will’s “fabricated” criticism of her was libelous.

Wolin said her parents disowned her because she refused to end a relationship with a Jewish student at her college whom she eventually married.

In the ruling issued Friday, the appellate court noted that state anti-discrimination laws don’t outlaw disinheritances based on alleged religious biases.

Even though a will may be “contrary to the principles of justice and humanity (and) its provisions may be shockingly unnatural and unfair,” the appellate panel said courts are required to uphold wills if the person drafting the document was competent and of sufficient age.

Attorneys for both sides declined comment.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.