Issues and Concerns in Regard to Inheritance

There are two fundamental concerns imposed by society relative to wealth distribution. The first concern is 1) The power of decision-making the property owner shall possess in determining the distribution of his or her private assets; and 2) concerns as to whether or not an inheritance or estate may pass to one single descendent or heir.

The freedom given to an owner of property in stating who is to receive his or her property upon (their) death through the form of testation is believed to provide momentum to the economy.

It has been considered useful that the owner of property be allowed the choice to provide an inheritance based on the specific needs or situation of his or her family. To clarify this statement a step further, an example may be providing property and funds to a child suffering a chronic illness or incapacitated to some degree over a normally healthy dependent or individual.

There is also the freedom for the owner of property to disinherit a child who is disobedient in some respect. The property owner may provide (within the will) provision of proceeds to a favorite charitable institution or cultural organization.

Society, thus, may incur some disregard by the property owner pertinent to retaliation or acts of odd fancy. This is the consequence of a property owner’s right to freedom of testation. This freedom of a property owner to leave possessions and savings to descendents and heirs evolved slowly. There isn’t a place on earth that the freedom of testation exists without restrictions. The limits of such freedom have been addressed in many different ways (dependent upon the locale and specific circumstances.)

When property is owned (collectively or) as a societal group rather than by individual property owners, freedom of testation cannot exist. A transaction of land from a group to one single individual has almost never if ever occurred in a single transaction. Several steps normally have needed to occur before the land was passed to the single owner. The procedure of transferring land from one group to an individual historically has taken place over lengthy waiting periods (of time) in which several steps needed to occur before there was a transfer of ownership to the individual.

Ancient societies found ways around the dilemma of passing property from community groups to single individuals. These societies devised easy plans to minimize the complexities involved in transferring ownership. They achieved this by an illegitimate sale or gift to a middleman. The middle person would allow the grantor to possess the property during the grantor’s life, and upon the death of the grantor, the middle person would distribute the property according to the wishes of the grantor. This system was used and established in countries and regions such as ancient China, Japan, and India.