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. // Use of the term The concept of property or ownership has no single or universally accepted definition. ... A title is a prefix or suffix added to a persons name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. ... Debt is that which is owed. ... An obligation can be legal or moral. ...

Both anthropology and sociology have made detailed studies in this area. 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, under which 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. Some ancient societies and most modern states employ partible inheritance, under which every child inherits (usually equally). There was also mixed systems: Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος, human or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ... Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ... Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones fathers lineage; it generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well. ... Gavelkind was a peculiar system of land tenure associated chiefly with the county of Kent, but found also in other parts of England. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ... Primogeniture is the common tradition of inheritance by the first-born of the entirety of a parents wealth, estate or office; or in the absence of children, by collateral relatives, in order of seniority of the collateral line. ... Partible inheritance is a general term applied to systems of inheritance in which property may be divided between heirs. ...

• 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.
• among ancient Israelites, the eldest son received twice as much as the other sons.
• among Galician people it was typical that all chidren (both men and women) had a part of the inheritance, but one son (the one who inherited the house) inherited one third of all the inheritance; this son was called the mellorado. In some villages the mellorado even received two thirds of all the inheritance. This two thirds were all the family's lands, while other children recived their part in money.

Many states have inheritance taxes, under which a portion of any estate goes to the government, though the government technically is not an heir. Birger jarl ▶(?) (English: Earl Birger), full name Birger Magnusson of Bjälbo (1210 – October 21, 1266), was a Swedish statesman and the founder of Stockholm. ... For the song by Desmond Dekker see Israelites (song). ... Galicia (Spain) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Inheritance tax, also known in some countries outside the United States as a death duty and referred to as an estate tax within the U.S, is a form of tax imposed upon the transfer of the property of the estate of a deceased person that is left to a...

Employing differing forms of succession can effect 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.) Primogeniture is the common tradition of inheritance by the first-born of the entirety of a parents wealth, estate or office; or in the absence of children, by collateral relatives, in order of seniority of the collateral line. ...

Inheritance can be organized in a way that its use is restricted by the desires of someone (usually of the decedent). An inheritance may have been organized as a fideicommission, which usually cannot be sold or diminished, only its profits are disposable. A fideicommission's succession can also be ordered in a way that determines it long (or eternally) also with regard to persons born long after the original decedent. Cf also trust. Royal succession has typically been more or less a fideicommission, the realm not (easily) to be sold and the rules of succession not to be (easily) altered by a holder (a monarch). In common law legal systems, a trust is a contractual relationship in which a person or entity (the trustee) has legal title to certain property (the trust property or trust corpus), but is bound by a fiduciary duty to exercise that legal control for the benefit of one or more... A hereditary monarchy is the most common style of monarchy and is the form that is used by almost all of the worlds existing monarchies. ...

In more archaic days, particularly the possession of inherited land has been much more like a family trust than a property of an individual. Yet quite recently 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. Adjective archaic (more archaic, most archaic) From an earlier period and no longer in common use; of or characterized by antiquity or archaism, antiquated. ... In economics, land comprises all naturally occurring resources, such as geographical locations, mineral deposits, and even portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. ...

In common law jurisdictions an heir is a person who is entitled to receive a share of the decedent's property via the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction where the decedent died or owned property at the time of his death. Strictly speaking, one only becomes an heir upon the death of the related person: it was improper to speak of the "heir" of a living person since the exact identity of the persons entitled to inherit would not be determined until the time of death. However, it is not totally wrong to speak about "heir" during the lifetime of the decedent at least in cases where the heir has such a position that only her/his own demise before, may prevent becoming a heir at the death (for example, if the birth of another person cannot take away the position as a heir) - this is an heir apparent. This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak, is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. ... Contrasting with heir presumptive, an heir apparent is one who cannot be prevented from inheriting by the birth of any other person. ...