Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. In legal terms, succession refers to the process by which a deceased person’s rights and property are transferred to their heirs, while inheritance refers to the actual property or assets that those heirs receive.

Succession may occur either under the generally applicable statutory rules, referred to as intestate succession, or in accordance with the provisions set forth in a valid will. The rules for a testator to devise and bequeath private property and/or debts via will, often must be attested by a notary or by other lawful means.

Legal systems can differ significantly in how property passes from a deceased person to their heirs, with common law jurisdictions typically requiring formal probate procedures, while civil law systems often allow heirs to acquire ownership automatically by operation of law - the principle of saisine or seizin (Quebec).

In law, an heir (FEM (obs): heiress) is a person who is entitled to receive a share of property from a decedent (a person who died), subject to the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction where the decedent was a citizen, or where the decedent died or owned property at the time of death.

The inheritance may be either under the terms of a will or by intestacy laws if the deceased had no will. However, the will must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction at the time it was created or it will be declared invalid - for example, some states do not recognise handwritten wills as valid, or only in specific circumstances - and the intestacy laws then apply.

The exclusion from inheritance of a person who was an heir in a previous will, or would be expected to inherit under the laws of intestate succession, is termed disinheritance.

A person does not become an heir before the death of the deceased, since the exact identity of the persons entitled to inherit is determined only then. Members of ruling noble or royal houses who are expected to become heirs are called heirs apparent if first in line and incapable of being displaced from inheriting by another claim; otherwise, they are heirs presumptive. There is a further concept of joint inheritance, pending renunciation by all but one, which is called coparceny.

In modern law, the terms ‘'inheritance'’ and '‘heir’' apply only to property passed by intestate succession – that is, from a person who dies without a will. Property distributed under a will passes to beneficiaries, who may be called devisees for real property, legatees for money, and recipients of bequests for other personal property.