Financial Planning Skills Test, Grade 3 | Inheritance and Business Succession Questions

An inheritance commences on the death of the deceased.

A spouse is always an heir, combining with those in the order of children, lineal ascendants, then siblings.

Apart from the spouse, children are of the first rank, with substitution where a child has predeceased.

Once renunciation is accepted by the family court, neither assets nor liabilities pass to that person.

Under qualified acceptance, the deceased's debts are paid only up to the limit of the estate inherited.

Drawn up in a legally valid form, it records wishes on the distribution of property, bequests and the like.

Certain statutory heirs are guaranteed a proportion that even a will cannot infringe.

Where a will does not direct otherwise, the division of an estate is agreed among all the co-heirs.

Both positive and negative property must be identified for decisions on the inheritance and for calculating the tax.

Plan for more than tax alone: the substance of the gift, the need for funds and fairness within the family.