INTRODUCTION

Inheritance laws affect everyone. That reason alone is sufficient for their study. By virtue of their broad application, the laws on inheritance contain significance that few rules of law can duplicate. Even aside from their scope of application, inheritance laws are equally significant in substance, as they “embody broad principles as to how a society considers property should be disposed of on death”. Although some have characterised the topic of intestacy as “unimportant” because “it is a mass of detail”, it is precisely some of that detail which must be examined to discern what value judgments are made by society, either for a decedent or in spite of him. From a comparative perspective, this is important because the laws of inheritance have the potential to reveal not only differences or similarities in black letter rules but also differences and similarities in the societal principles, mores, and values that underlie those rules.

Despite the broad application of these rules, scholars are not entirely in agreement on their purpose. In fact, inheritance laws serve many purposes. Some goals of inheritance law include “avoid[ing] complicating property titles and excessive subdivision of property”, “promot[ing] and encourag[ing] the nuclear family”, “encourag[ing] the accumulation of property by individuals”, and “produc[ing] a pattern of distribution that recipients believe is fair and thus does not produce disharmony”. Most commonly, however, the purpose of inheritance laws is to effectuate the intention or preference of the decedent (either actual or presumed) and to protect financially dependent members of the family.