@Always
My maternal side came from Bavaria, leaving for America 3 years before the unification of the German Empire.
My paternal side came from an ever shifting area of the Pale which had been under, Polish, Lithuanian and Russian rule, today one of the towns is in Poland, the other in Belarus.
Inherited money, is not a thing in our family, heirlooms such as jewelry and silver is. We were given educational opportunities that were afforded by our families, but all was not rosy in every generation.
My maternal grandmother left school at 14 to work and support the family. Her father made a large income, but was a gambler who lost more than he made. She worked days and went to business school in the evening. After getting her certificate, she went to work for a concern owned by a German Jewish man. Within 6 months he had asked her to marry. After having two children, Oma ran the business and Opa went to school to become and eye doctor. They led a privileged life until the great depression.
My Paternal great grandfather had only daughters. He was a necktie manufacturer. He set up each successive son-in-law in a complementary clothing manufacturing business. My Zaidy made shirts, the next daughter’s husband made suits, the next made underwear. The last went on the road as the traveling salesman, peddling a complete line of men’s clothing to Jewish (and Non-Jewish <future President Harry S Truman was a customer>) owned menswear shops across America.
The only inheritance of dollars I recall, was when an unmarried great aunt died. They cleaned out her desk in her Brooklyn apartment and found that she had bought US Savings Bonds for her great nieces and nephews through the payroll deduction plan during the 1950s and 60s. By the time we got them they already had stopped drawing interest. I believe I received $750 in 1996.
Having made sure that their children were educated, housed and established, my ancestors in America tended to bequeath their real estate and money to charity not family members, who did not need it to live.
B”H my children and grandchildren are educated, I am now semiretired and we have more than what we need to live comfortably. When the time comes, our children and their children will receive our personal effects and choose from our artwork and furniture. The CTL compound is titled in family trusts. Should they wish to live here, they can negotiate a lease with the trustees. The money, stocks, bonds and commercial real estate will all benefit a list of charities, both Jewish and communal.