Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the fundamental question of whether it is just that people inherit property. Should a property owner be entitled to transfer that property after their death to a person of their choosing? Is the right to posthumous transfer a part of the right to private property? I will defend the thesis that the common social practice of inheritance, embodied in law and institutions, is actually pro tanto unjust, since it confers an unjust advantage on the beneficiary. To establish this thesis, I shall first consider the main arguments against inheritance from a justice perspective, then defend these positions against four of the main normative arguments offered in favour of inheritance: the right to property objection, the gift objection, the value of the family objection, and the double tax objection.