Orthodox Jewish woman wins legal battle for house

A Brooklyn woman has just won a legal battle involving inheritance rights. Amy Neustein has been fighting for the past eight years to keep the New York house – left to her by her parents in their will  – which her brother has been trying to forcibly evict her from. Neustein, an Orthodox Jewish woman, explains that this type of legal issue frequently arises within the Orthodox community. Certain Orthodox Jewish communities follow the belief that only sons can inherit property rights.

Neustein’s brother , the first-born son of an Orthodox Rabbi, claimed in court that he had a religious right to evict his sister from her property. The Brooklyn Courthouse in which the legal battle took place awarded Neustein over half a million dollars in damages after she reported that her elder brother had locked her out of her home only days after their father’s death.

The court ruled, not only that the house legally belonged to Neustein, but also that Neustein’s brother owed her the above-mentioned damages as a result of the legal costs incurred over the 8-year legal wrangle, and to compensate Neustein for the stress involved.

Neustein has decided to go public with her battle, revealing that this sort of case is not unusual within the Orthodox community. Despite the obvious heartbreak involved with having to establish a legal case against her own brother, Neustein is determined to shine the media spotlight on her battle so that other women are aware that it is possible to fight religious legal battles of this kind.