The Torah’s order of inheritance is specific. Daughters do not inherit if there are sons and the deceased’s siblings do not inherit if there are descendants. A man who wants his wife and daughters to benefit from his estate must utilize a valid halachic method to do so. His instructions, written or oral, cannot alter the Torah’s order of inheritance. A properly prepared tzavaah is necessary to halachically ensure the financial security of one’s widow and daughters.

The general consensus of the Poskim is that a secular will cannot alter the halachic order of inheritance. Some Poskim maintain that a father’s secular will imposes a mitzvah obligation on his heirs to follow the instructions recorded in his will, but most Poskim disagree. Therefore, a secular will is not a reliable method to assure the financial security of one’s widow and daughters. Placing assets in a trust is also halachically questionable. The only reliable method is leaving a tzavaah.

The tzavaah circumvents the inheritance process by the father’s assumption of a financial obligation during his lifetime when all his assets are still in his possession. He obligates himself to pay a very large sum of money to his daughter(s), for instance, payable only when his death is imminent. During his lifetime, he has full and unrestricted control of his assets. The debt only goes into effect just prior to his death, and it must be repaid from the estate before there is any distribution to the heirs.

The debt, however, is conditional. If the sons grant the daughter a share of the estate, as specified by the father, the debt is retroactively null and void; the daughter receives her specified share and has no further claim to the estate. The sons will gladly give the daughter the specified share rather than risk losing their inheritance entirely.

The tzavaah has been in use for many centuries. In earlier times, it was used to award daughters a half-share of the estate as part of her dowry. For instance, if a man had two sons and a daughter, each son would get forty percent of his estate and the daughter would receive twenty percent of the estate in the form of a post-death payment, not as inheritance, as explained above. Therefore, the tzavaah came to be known as shtar chatzi zachar, a certificate granting her half of what a male would receive. Later, it became customary to award daughters a full share.

This tzavaah is unlikely to be upheld in secular courts. In the absence of a secular will, assets are divided equally among all the children. If the tzavaah distributes the estate equally among all the children, there is no need for a secular will. If, however, the tzavaah specifies an unequal distribution, a secular will is needed to assure that one’s wishes will be followed.

When a person leaves a highly detailed secular will, there is no necessity for the tzavaah to repeat all those details. Therefore, the tzavaah that serves as an addendum to a secular will only states that the cancellation of the debt to the daughter is dependent on the fulfillment of all the conditions specified in the will.

If there is no secular will, the tzavaah must specify the conditions for the cancellation of the debt to the daughter. The form generated on this website contains options for standard conditions. More detailed instructions require a custom tzavaah.

Yes. Although the tzavaah assumes a financial obligation, it stipulates that the obligation is made on the condition that there is no retraction.

Usually not. The tzavaah, even in the absence of a secular will, anticipates that there may eventually be a secular will, and it states that the cancellation of the debt will depend on the fulfillment of the conditions specified in the will.  

Yes, in certain circumstances. The tzavaah works by creating a conditional debt greater than the entire estate. If the estate increases over time to the point where the debt is smaller than the specified share of the estate, the sons may prefer to pay the debt rather than share the estate. In that case, the size of the conditional debt should be increased. It also needs to be revised to make provision for a new wife or daughter.

It is often the case that secular wills recommend leaving everything to the wife. However, there are potential issues with this approach. For example, if the wife remarries and her second husband outlives her, he will inherit the entire estate unless a prenuptial agreement was put in place. Additionally, leaving all assets to the wife may cause tension in the family if she is vulnerable and makes poor decisions at an elderly age. On the other hand, there may be concerns about the wife selling the property later on, as Halachic law typically only gives the wife full life estate to reside, but not to sell. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The decision should be made based on the family dynamics, size of the estate, and the age of the parties involved. It is recommended that one consults with a professional to make an informed decision.

This space is intended for incidental instructions, such as: “My tefillin should be given to so-and-so,” or “That property listed in my name really belongs to so-and-so,”

The orderly transfer of inheritance and the preservation of the family legacy is an important Torah value. The tzavaah is designed to avoid acrimony and conflict without completely eliminating the institution of halachic inheritance. Therefore, a significant portion of the estate ($10,000) is excluded from the tzavaah to be distributed according to the Torah’s guidelines for distributing an estate.

No. However, it should be kept in a place where your beneficiaries will find it when necessary. It is commonly entrusted to a lawyer, wife or daughters, in whose interest it is to take care of it.

You should make a kinyan before signing this document.

A kinyan is a halachic transaction. Before signing the document, the beneficiary(ies) or a representative of the beneficiary(ies), even a self-appointed one, gives you an item such as a hat or scarf, and upon taking possession of that item you assume the obligations included in the tzavaah. This is called a kinyan sudar, a halachic action, that transfers property or generates a financial commitment obligating the recipient of the item to the beneficiary of the transaction.

   Whose object is used to make the kinyan?

The kinyan must be made with an item belonging to the beneficiaries or their representatives; a kinyan made with an item belonging to a seller or a person assuming an obligation is invalid. The person making the tzavaah lifts the item at least twelve inches from the surface below it. After the kinyan is performed, the item is returned to the original owner.

It is not necessary to make the kinyan in the presence of a prominent beis din. Making a kinyan before a prominent beis din demonstrates one’s sincere determination to perform the obligation/s recorded in the contract. Signing a contract that declares that a kinyan was performed in front of beis din, something you will not be able to deny later, also serves to underscore the sincerity of your commitment. Therefore, the declaration accomplishes the same outcome of making the kinyan in front of a prominent beis din, and it is not considered an untruth.

No. The sole purpose of having witnesses sign on a tzavaah is to authenticate your signature. They do not need to have any knowledge of the contents of the tzavaah or the attached secular will. However, the witnesses must see you sign the tzavaah on the date recorded in it.

No. The witnesses signed on the tzavaah are notarizing your signature.

Your tzavaah affects only your own assets. It does not determine the distribution of your wife’s assets after her death. Furthermore, if there are assets you own jointly with your wife, such as a place of residence, your tzavaah will only affect your share of thosee assets. To ensure that all the assets the two of you own, either individually or jointly, will be distributed according to your joint wishes, both of you should sign a tzavaah and make a kinyan.

The conditional obligation in the tzavaah should be larger than the projected total value of the estate. Estimate what you anticipate your estate will be worth in the best case scenario at the time of your passing, and enter a considerably larger number as your conditional obligation. If your estate should increase beyond your wildest imagination, you should make a new tzavaah.