Editing Inheritance (section)

==Terminology==
In law, an "heir" (<small>{{abbr|{{sc|fem:}}|feminine form}}</small> heiress) is a person who is entitled to receive a share of property from a [[decedent]] (a person who died), subject to the rules of inheritance in the [[jurisdiction]] where the decedent was a citizen, or where the decedent died or owned property at the time of death.

The inheritance may be either under the terms of a will or by [[intestate]] laws if the deceased had no will. However, the will must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction at the time it was created or it will be declared invalid (for example, some states do not recognise [[Holographic will|handwritten wills]] as valid, or only in specific circumstances) and the intestate laws then apply.

The exclusion from inheritance of a person who was an heir in a previous will, or would otherwise be expected to inherit, is termed "disinheritance".

A person does not become an heir before the death of the deceased, since the exact identity of the persons entitled to inherit is determined only then. Members of ruling noble or royal houses who are expected to become heirs are called [[Heir apparent|heirs apparent]] if first in line and incapable of being displaced from inheriting by another claim; otherwise, they are [[Heir presumptive|heirs presumptive]]. There is a further concept of joint inheritance, pending renunciation by all but one, which is called [[Co-parceners|coparceny]].

In modern law, the terms ''inheritance'' and ''heir'' refer exclusively to succession to property by descent from a deceased dying [[Intestacy|intestate]]. Takers in property succeeded to under a will are termed generally ''[[beneficiary|beneficiaries]],'' and specifically ''devises'' for [[real property]], ''bequests'' for [[personal property]] (except money), or ''legatees'' for money.

Except in some jurisdictions where a person cannot be legally disinherited (such as the United States state of [[Louisiana]], which allows disinheritance only under specifically enumerated circumstances<ref>{{Cite web |title=LSU Law: Louisiana Civil Code |url=https://lcco.law.lsu.edu/?uid=60&ver=en |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=lcco.law.lsu.edu}}</ref>), a person who would be an heir under intestate laws may be disinherited completely under the terms of a will (an example is that of the will of comedian [[Jerry Lewis]]; his will specifically disinherited his six children by his first wife, and their descendants, leaving his entire estate to his second wife).

Inheritance has been compared to [[nepotism]].<ref name="e543">{{cite journal | last=Pérez-González | first=Francisco | title=Inherited Control and Firm Performance | journal=American Economic Review | volume=96 | issue=5 | date=1 November 2006 | issn=0002-8282 | doi=10.1257/aer.96.5.1559 | pages=1559–1588}}</ref>