The first in line for
inheritance are the children of the deceased, then the father, and only
then - his siblings. How do we know that the father indeed precedes the
brothers of the deceased?
The passages of the Torah describing the laws of inheritance do not
mention the father of the deceased at all. However, in the phrase “...You shall give his inheritance to HIS RELATIVE who is closest to him of his family...”
- “his relative” means the father of the deceased. Now that we see that
the father is mentioned, his place in the chain of inheritance is right
after the children, because one's father is considered a closer
relative to him than his siblings are.
If so, why is the father not mentioned explicitly? The Torah wanted to
avoid describing the sad situation of a father inheriting his son.
Art: William Frederick Yeames - And When Did You Last See Your Father?