Rich man will states gay son should marry a woman if he wants inheritance

A rich man wrote in his will that his gay son can only receive inheritance if he marries the mother of his children.

The late Frank Mandelbaum stipulated in his will that none of the children of his son Robert would receive inheritance if Robert "was not married to the mother of the child within six months after the birth of the child,” the local news media reported.

A bit old fashioned? Sure. Especially when you consider that Robert Mandelbaum, 47-years-old, is a judge in Manhattan Criminal Court, who is also gay. Frank Mandelbaum, who founded the ID verification company Intelli-Check, died in 2007 at the age of 73.

After New York passed the Law on Marriage Equality, Robert married Jonathan O'Donnell in August 2011, shortly after that the couple had a son, Cooper, through a surrogate mother.

Robert believes that his 16-month-old Cooper deserves a share of the trust of $180,000 reserved for Frank’s three grandchildren. He and O'Donnell are fighting in court to prove that the will of Frank is discriminatory and in violation of state law.

"The demand for a gay man to marry a woman, to ensure a child's inheritance, amounts to expect him to engage in extramarital activity with another man, which is contrary to public order," the couple's lawyer, Anne Bederka, wrote in court papers. "There is no doubt that what Frank Mandelbaum has tried to do is induce a woman to marry Robert."