Inherited Wealth

How to regulate the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next has been hotly debated among politicians, legal scholars, sociologists, economists, and philosophers for centuries. Bequeathing wealth is a vital ingredient of family solidarity. But does the reproduction of social inequality through inheritance square with the principle of equal opportunity? Does democracy suffer when family wealth becomes political power? The first in-depth, comparative study of the development of inheritance law in the United States, France, and Germany, Inherited Wealth investigates longstanding political and intellectual debates over inheritance laws and explains why these laws still differ so greatly among these countries. Using a sociological perspective, Jens Beckert sheds light on the four most controversial issues in inheritance law during the past two centuries: the freedom to dispose of one's property as one wishes, the rights of family members to the wealth bequeathed, the dissolution of entails (which restrict inheritance to specific classes of heirs), and estate taxation. Beckert shows that while the United States, France, and Germany have all long defended inheritance rights based on the notion of individual property rights, they have justified limitations on inheritance rights in profoundly different ways, reflecting culturally specific ways of understanding the problems of inherited wealth.Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Inheritance and Modern Society 1.2 Social Dimensions of Inheritance LawChapter 2: The Right to Bequeath: Testamentary Freedom and the Individuality of Property 2.1 France: Equality versus the Freedom of Private Disposition over Property 2.2 Germany: Testamentary Freedom versus Family and Social Justice 2.3 United States: Equality of Opportunity versus Individual Rights of Disposition 2.4 ConclusionChapter 3: Equality and Inclusion: The Inheritance Rights of the Family 3.1 The Principle of Equality in Intestacy Law 3.2 The Spouse in Intestacy Law 3.3 The Integration of Illegitimate Children into Inheritance Law 3.4 ConclusionChapter 4: Political Structure and Inheritance Law: The Abolition of Entails 4.1 The Double Abolition of Substitutions in France 4.2 The Delayed Abolition of Fideikommisse in Germany 4.3 The Abolition of Entails in the American Revolution 4.4 ConclusionChapter 5: Social Justice through Redistribution? The Taxation of Inheritance 5.1 Equality of Opportunity versus Private Property: The Estate Tax in the United States 5.2 "Sense of Family" versus Social Justice: The Inheritance Tax in Germany 5.3 Destruction of National Wealth? The Progressive Inheritance Tax in France 5.4 ConclusionChapter 6: Conclusion: Discourses and InstitutionsAppendix: The Method of Content Analysis of Parliamentary Debate