Title: Dead hands
Subtitle: a social history of wills, trusts, and inheritance law
First published: 2009
Description: Law and custom allow people many ways to pass on their property. As Friedman's enlightening social history reveals, a decline in formal rules, the ascendancy of will substitutes over classic wills, social changes like the rise of the family of affection, changing ideas of acceptable heirs, and the potential disappearance of the estate tax all play a large role in the balance of wealth. Dead Hands uncovers the tremendous social and legal importance of this rite of passage, and how it reflects changing values and priorities in American families and society. --from publisher description.
Subjects: History, Inheritance and succession, Social aspects, Social aspects of Inheritance and succession, United states, social conditions, United states, history
Places: United States
LC classification: KF753 .F75 2009