Ben Worthy

Robert Hazell

Mark Glover

"Evaluates the performance of the Act against its objectives, and its impact on Whitehall. Draws upon evidence from interviews with officials, plus FOI requesters and journalists as well as stories in the national press." - cover.

Does FOI Work?

The Impact of the Freedom of Information Act on Central Government in the UK

Inheritance law generally defers to the donor's decisions regarding what property should be distributed to which donees. Because these decisions are carried out after the donor's death, the law's deference to the donor has become known as “dead hand control.” But just as the inheritance process is guided by the decisions of the dead, it is also influenced by the choices of the living. When the donor names a donee in their estate plan, the donee must decide whether to accept or reject the gift. If the donee accepts the gift, the property becomes theirs, but if the donee rejects the gift, the property is distributed to an alternate donee. Thus, inheritance law grants control not only to the dead hand of the donor but also to the live hand of the donee. This latter deference to the donee has become known as “live hand control.”Although the law grants the donee broad freedom to accept or reject inheritances, it restrains the donee's ability to reject a gift under some scenarios, and it restrains their ability to accept a gift under others. Legal scholars have devoted considerable attention to the study of each type of live hand restraint, but they typically have focused on one type or the other without exploring possible connections between the two. To fill this analytical void, this Article will bring together the law's restraints of acceptance and rejection and seek to develop a unifying theoretical framework that can guide policymakers in deciding when and how to restrain the donee's discretion to accept or reject a gift.Specifically, this Article will argue that the law's live hand restraints, whether of rejection or acceptance, are primarily founded upon the concern that the donee's decisions to accept or reject a gift will impose costs on others that the donee likely does not take into account when making their decisions. In these situations, deference to the donee might not be socially beneficial, and, consequently, the law restricts their decision-making ability. Ultimately, informed by the insights gleaned from a comparative analysis of the two types of live hand restraints, this Article will explore specific reform proposals that can increase the social welfare generated by the inheritance process.

Restraining Live Hand Control of Inheritance

The donor is the primary decision-maker regarding the distribution of her property after death, as the law grants her broad freedom of disposition to decide what property should go to which donees. The rationale underlying freedom of disposition is that the choices of individual donors produce results that maximize social welfare. Policymakers are rightful skeptical that they can craft a mandatory estate plan that fits all situations or that probate courts can consistently and accurately access the merits of particular dispositions of property. By contrast, the donor is in the best position to evaluate her own specific circumstances and to place property in the hands of the donees who will benefit the most.The donor, however, is not the sole decision-maker regarding the disposition of her property after death. To be sure, she enjoys broad freedom to craft an estate plan to her liking. But when the donor decides to make a gift to a particular donee, the donee must also make a decision. Specifically, she must decide either to accept the gift from the donor or to reject it. Whereas the donor's discretion to decide which testamentary gifts to make is referred to as freedom of disposition, the donee's discretion to decide which testamentary gifts to accept or to reject can be labeled “freedom of inheritance.”Although legal scholars have paid much attention to the donor's freedom of disposition and have explained that it plays an important role in maximizing social welfare, relatively little attention has been paid to the donee's freedom of inheritance and the role it plays in maximizing the utility generated from the donor's estate. To fill this analytical void, this Article defines the donee's freedom of inheritance and identifies how it works in concert with the donor's freedom of disposition to maximize social welfare. Ultimately, this Article argues that the donee's freedom of inheritance is an important part of the process of transferring wealth after death and that policymakers should strive to facilitate the donee's exercise of this freedom when crafting the law of succession.

Freedom of Inheritance

Alison Lohans

Zoe has never let being in a wheelchair stop her from doing anything, but when her family moves to a remote village in northern Canada, she finds things harder that she anticipated. The snow makes it hard for her to get around, all her class-mates are into snow sports Zoe can't join in and there are wild dogs roaming the village. There is one dog in particular, a stray husky, which seems to be always trying to get near her but Zoe just finds it frightening. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.

Mark Glover

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