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Also known as: succession
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Category: History & Society
Also called:
succession
Key People:
Eduard Gans
Related Topics:
primogeniture and ultimogeniture
dower
will
heir
intestate succession
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inheritance, the devolution of property on an heir or heirs upon the death of the owner. The term inheritance also designates the property itself. In modern society, the process is regulated in minute detail by law. In the civil law of the continental European pattern, the pertinent branch is generally called the law of succession. In Anglo-American common law it was customary to distinguish between descent of real estate and distribution of personal estate. The rules applicable to the two kinds of property have been fused, but no common, overall name is yet universally accepted. In England books dealing with ...(100 of 12833 words)

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