Jürgen Dinkel

Who receives the inheritance of a deceased person? Who can claim rights to an inheritance and who decides on its distribution? The answers to these questions differed in earlier eras and according to society, milieu and culture. Legal, economic and social norms and practices had different weight. Expectations for the future also varied, as did family ideas and family networks, which often had a decisive influence on the transfer of property. In this study, Jürgen Dinkel analyses for the first time and from a comparative perspective how societies in the transatlantic-European area from the 19th to the 21st century answered these questions. In the process, it becomes visible how individuals and kinship networks in local, national and transnational frames of reference adapted their inheritance practices to changing conditions in order to keep wealth in the family. At the same time, it becomes clear how societies dealt with inequalities and when and why the laws, institutions and practices emerged that continue to profoundly influence individual life plans and societal wealth distributions to the present day.