Inheritance

Inheritance is the transfer of a deceased person’s property, rights, and sometimes obligations to successors under a will or applicable law.

Will: A legal document that states how a person’s property should be distributed after death. A valid will directs the distribution of an estate and can name its beneficiaries.
Estate (law): The property, rights, and obligations that a person holds or leaves behind under law. Inheritance transfers parts of the deceased person’s estate to successors.
Gift (law): A voluntary transfer of property made without full payment in return. A lifetime gift transfers property before death rather than through inheritance.
Inheritance tax: A tax charged to a person who receives property from a deceased person’s estate. This tax places liability on recipients rather than taxing the estate as a whole.
Intestate succession: The legally prescribed distribution of an estate when someone dies without a valid will. It governs inheritance when no valid will supplies the deceased person’s instructions.
Heir: A person entitled by law to inherit property from someone who has died. An heir’s entitlement may arise under succession law even without being named in a will.
Joint tenancy: A form of co-ownership in which a surviving owner may automatically receive the deceased owner’s share. Survivorship can transfer jointly held property outside the estate’s inheritance process.
Forced heirship: A legal rule reserving part of an estate for specified close relatives, limiting testamentary freedom. Forced heirship constrains how freely a person can direct inheritance by will.
Probate: A court-supervised process for validating a will and administering a deceased person’s estate. Probate can establish a will’s validity and oversee transfers to beneficiaries.
Devise (law): A transfer of real property by will, especially in common-law terminology. A devise is one specific form of inheritance made through a will.

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