Inheritance (Sociology)

This article is concerned with the inheritance of physical and monetary items as well as social heritage. For other uses, see Inheritance.

Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an extremely important role in human societies. A less common but no less important use of the term has to do with the notion that as human beings we receive an inheritance at birth from our family, society, culture, nation, and world. This second kind is a cultural or social inheritance rather than a physical or monetary one.

Inheritance Law

Historical background

• In 18th Century B.C.E., the Hammurabi code of the Babylonian ruler of the same name allowed for both testate and intestate succession.
• In 6th century B.C.E., in Greece, property was passed on through wills.
• In 5th century B.C.E., The Twelve Tables, from Roman law, included statutes pertaining to inheritance with and without the use of a will.
• Among ancient Israelites, the eldest son received twice as much as the other sons.
• In more archaic times, the possession of inherited land has been much more like a family trust than a property of an individual.
• In England, the feudal system eliminated the right to inherit property. It was later returned with certain limitations until eventually citizens regained this right in its original form.
• In Swedish culture beginning from 13th century and up until 19th century, a son inherited twice as much as his sister. This rule was introduced by the Regent Birger Jarl, and it was regarded as an improvement in its era, since daughters were previously usually left without.

Modern forms

Both anthropology and sociology have made detailed studies in the way that economic inheritance is most commonly understood. Many cultures feature patrilineal succession, also known as gavelkind, where only male children can inherit. Some cultures also employ matrilineal succession only passing property along the female line. Even more radical than the patrilineal succession is the practice of primogeniture whereby all property goes to the eldest child, or often the eldest son (the first-born). Conversely there are also systems where everything is left to the youngest child. Most states employ partible inheritance, whereby every child inherits (usually equally). In recent years in many European countries, sale of the whole of or a significant portion of a farm required consent from certain heirs, and/or heirs had the intervening right to obtain the land in question with same sales conditions as in the sales agreement in question. Many modern states have inheritance taxes, whereby a portion of any estate goes to the government, though the government technically is not an heir.

Most countries have an inheritance law regarding the assets or obligations that a deceased person includes in a will or living trust. Inheritance law often requires that specific steps must be followed when a person dies leaving a will. For example, the executor of the estate has to identify all the deceased’s assets and collect them so they are protected. Creditors must be notified and all claims must be paid. Any taxes owing on the estate also have to be paid in a timely manner.

The Influence of Forms of Succession

Employing differing forms of succession can affect many areas of society. Gender roles are profoundly affected by inheritance laws and traditions. Primogeniture has the effect of keeping large estates united and thus perpetuating an elite. With partible inheritance large estates are slowly divided among many descendants and great wealth is thus diluted, leaving higher opportunities to individuals to make a success. (If great wealth is not diluted, the positions in society tend to be much more fixed and opportunities to make an individual success are lower.)

Inheritance can be organized in a way that its use is restricted by the desires of the decedent (the term “decedent” is used in law to refer to a deceased person only in connection with their passing or the administration of their estate.) An inheritance may have been organized as a fidei commissum, which usually cannot be sold or diminished, only its profits are disposable. A fidei commissum's succession can also be ordered in a way that determines long-term estate transfer even with regard to persons born long after the original decedent. See also trust. Royal succession has typically been more or less a fidei commissum, where the realm is not easily sold and the rules of succession not easily altered by a monarch.

Intestacy

Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies owning property greater than the sum of his or her enforceable debts and funeral expenses without having made a valid will or other binding declaration; alternatively where such a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estate, the remaining estate forms the "Intestate Estate". Intestacy law, also referred to as the law of descent and distribution or intestate succession statutes, refers to the body of common law that determines who is entitled to the property from the estate under the rules of inheritance.

The concept of intestacy has a limited application in those jurisdictions that follow civil law or Roman law because the concept of a will is itself less important; the doctrine of legitime automatically gives a deceased person's relatives title to all or a large part of the estate's property by operation of law, beyond the power of the deceased person to alter by legacy. This share can often only be decreased on account of some very specific misconduct by the heir. When referring to the devolution of estates generally in an international context, the "laws of succession" is the commonplace term covering testate and intestate estates in common law jurisdictions together with forced heirship rules typically applying in civil law and Sharia law jurisdictions.

After the Statute of Wills, 32 Henry VIII c. 1, Englishmen (and unmarried or widowed women) could dispose of their lands and property by a will. Their personal property could formerly be disposed of by a "testament," hence the hallowed legal merism "Last Will and Testament."

Common law sharply distinguished between real property and chattels. Real property for which no disposition had been made by will passed by the law of kinship and descent; chattel property for which no disposition had been made by testament was escheat to the Crown, or given to the Church for charitable purposes. This law became obsolete as England moved from being a feudal to a mercantile society, and chattels more valuable than land were being accumulated by townspeople.

In most contemporary common-law jurisdictions, the law of intestacy is patterned after the common law of descent. Property goes first to a spouse, then to children and their descendants; if there are no descendants, the rule sends you back up the family tree to the parents, the siblings, the siblings' descendants, the grandparents, the parents' siblings, and the parents' siblings' descendants, and sometimes further to the more remote degrees of kinship. The operation of these laws varies from one jurisdiction to another. Attempts in the United States to make the law with respect to intestate succession uniform from state to state have met with limited success.

In England and Wales the Intestacy Rules have been uniform since 1925 and strikingly similar rules apply in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and many Commonwealth countries and Crown Dependencies. These rules have been supplemented by the discretionary provisions of the 1989 Inheritance (Provision for Dependants) Act in relation to persons domiciled in any of the jurisdictions making up the United Kingdom so that fair provision can be made for a dependant spouse or other relative where the strict divisions set down in the Intestacy Rules would produce an unfair result, for example by providing additional support for a dependent minor or disabled child vis-a-vis an adult child who has a career and no longer depends on their parent.

If a person dies intestate with no identifiable heirs, the person's estate generally escheats (i.e., legally reverts) to the government.

The distribution of the property of an intestate decedent is the responsibility of the administrator (or personal representative) of the estate: typically the administrator is chosen by the court having jurisdiction over the decedent's property, and is frequently (but not always) a person nominated by a majority of the decedent's heirs.

In the United States, intestacy laws vary from state to state under the American practice of federalism. As in England, most jurisdictions apply rules of intestate succession to determine next of kin who become legal heirs to the estate. Also as in England, if no identifiable heirs are discovered, the property may escheat to the government.

Cultural Inheritance

Inheritance can also refer to the circumstances, cultural practices and surroundings into which a human being is born. This can include customs, heritage, legacies, systems of meaning, traditions, and values. Each person’s cultural inheritance varies greatly depending upon, among others, the era, the geographical location, as well as the socio-economic situation of one’s family. The era, for example, during which a person is born and raised, carries a unique “merit of the age” which can influence the events in a person’s life. Also, whether one is born in a eastern or western nation usually influences a person's upbringing and worldview.

While the circumstances at one's birth and the social and cultural heritage of one's youth may seem to be absolutely determinant in shaping the quality, opportunities, and direction of a person’s life, they are not. There are numerous examples of individuals and families who charted a course for themselves or for the sake of others which could not have been imagined based upon their social or cultural inheritance alone.

Each person has their own way of integrating their cultural inheritance into their life selectively embracing certain aspects and rejecting or ignoring others. This process is ongoing and can occur consciously or unconsciously. Often, people live an entire life never examining the nature of this inheritance while others discover ways to improve or enhance the quality of their life by inventing or discovering new, often unconventional, paradigms for living.

Socialization

Socialization is the process whereby people acquire a social identity and learn the way of life within their society. Socialization is essentially a process of inheriting values. Socialization is classified into two types: 1) the primary socialization—of the young child in a family through parents and 2) the secondary socialization—through schools, institutions of religion, friends, associations, mass media, etc. At certain times in people's lives, they can experience desocialization and resocialization. Religious conversion or joining the military, are examples which may involve a process of desocialization and resocialization.

Sometimes resocialization is achieved when an individual or a group discovers ways to breakthrough personal or social limitations or by overcoming barriers which can include, among others, the "status quo." The status quo is understood as the current socially accepted norms for a society which are based largely upon formal and informal collective agreement. Through the ages and into the present, the biggest drawback with the status quo is that it often driven by predominantly secular, materialistic, or narrow-minded sectarian values which tend to foster low stardards concerning the very meaning, value and purpose of life. When unexamined, this influence tends to lead people to live selfishly both individually and collectively unless the given society happens to foster universal values and encourages living for the sake of others.

The status quo can be very exclusionary toward anything which is not considered "normal" or "acceptable" by the society such as new concepts which challenge established habits, outdated beliefs and obsolete traditions. The obstacles encountered by the civil rights movement in America is one example. Many times progress depends upon those willing or courageous enough to challenge the status quo for the sake of the greater good. Historically, civil disobedience has proven to be one of the most effective and noble means for creating social change. Religious leaders usually encourage prayer, fasting, self-sacrifice, education, service, and social-action as effective methods for overcoming the status quo and bringing about personal and social transformation.

Inheritance and Responsibility

Inheritance can be understood as bequeathing the fruits of one's life from one generation to the next. This is a fundamental expression of mutual human devotion between parents and their offspring. For parents, inheritance is the opportunity of leaving a legacy to their children. From the viewpoint of the descendant (child) there is an implicit responsibility and obligation to honor the parents for their sacrifice and investment of life, love and lineage. The filial piety of the children can be expressed by carrying on family traditions, maintaining the estate (monetary and material), caring for the well-being of the clan, and even through fulfilling dreams of accomplishment which the parents themselves could not carry out.

Above and beyond material inheritance, parents share a responsibility to invest and sacrifice for the happiness and well-being of future generations. This sacrifice may invovle imparting widsom, guidance, and values to their children and grandchildren. Whether expressed formally or informally, we all have a responsibility to contribute to the public purpose beyond our own family, extending an inheritance to the community, society, nation and world. Naturally, descendants of such a tradition of living for the sake of others want to return dedication, sacrifice, and appreciation to their parents, ancestors, and fellow patriots for the gifts they have been given by attending and serving them, taking care of them in old age, and honoring their memory once they have passed away.

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