ABSTRACT
The issue of inheritance has been associated with questions of class reproduction as it is one of the means by which wealth and position are maintained. In the last few decades with the expansion of home ownership, particularly in Britain, the role of housing wealth in patterns of inheritance has attracted increased attention. However, in considering inheritance it is important to appreciate that more than economic issues are involved. The death of a person and the distribution of his or her effects is an important rite of passage which is observed in different ways within families and across cultures. The degree to which the distribution of possessions is organised may well depend on the size of the estate in money terms but this may not be the only determinant. Research into inheritance has attempted to explore the bequeathing process through the wills that people draw up. However, not all people leave wills and then not all wills are primarily about the disposal of economic assets. For example there might be explicit instructions on the nature of the funeral arrangements, who was to be invited, where the bus was to be hired from to take the mourners first to the funeral service and then on to the ‘ham’ tea, and full details of who would get the memorabilia from the house. In one such case little of this could be effected as at death there was no money for the executors to carry out the wishes of the deceased nor was there likely to be enough mourners to fill the requested coach. In a recent case in New Zealand a dispute arose over the death and burial of a prominent Maori
entertainer who was married to a Pakeha (European). Whose rights were paramount, those of the wife or those of the tribe? The Maori iwi (tribe) claimed the body and organised a tangi and then the burial according to their custom on the sacred Taupiri mountain used as the tribal burial ground. The view they held was that the person’s prime affiliation was to his tribe and his Whanau (extended family).
