ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE OF THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE RIGHT TO INHERIT BASED ON THE NEED TO RECEIVE PARENTAL LOVE

Abstract

What justifies the right of children to inherit their parents’ property? In this article I explore a justification of the right to inherit by the descendants of the deceased. This inheritance right is founded on what I call the extension argument. This argument states that the right of children to receive property by inheritance is the extension of certain rights they have with respect to their parents while the latter were alive. In particular, I analyze the possibility of founding an inheritance right on the basis of the children’s need to receive love from their parents and address some objections about central aspects of the thesis presented. As a conclusion, I establish that the objections pointed out impede the justification of the right to inherit as an act of parental love.