Journal of Family and Economic Issues

, Volume 38, Issue 1, pp 45–56 | Cite as

Inheritances and Bequest Planning: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances

Original Paper
First Online:
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Abstract

Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, this paper documented the positive correlation between the receipt of an inheritance and the expectation of leaving a bequest. Inheritance recipients were found to have a higher probability of planning to leave a bequest relative to households that had not received an inheritance. Conditional on having already received an inheritance, the likelihood of expecting to leave a bequest was even larger for households that anticipated to receive an inheritance in the future. The findings in this paper suggest that inheritances already received or expected to be received may be an important transmission mechanism underlying the bequest motive.

Keywords

Inheritance Bequest Wealth 

JEL Classification

D14 D31 E24 F310 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of EconomicsUniversity of Colorado Colorado SpringsColorado SpringsUSA
  2. 2.Department of EconomicsUniversity of Colorado Colorado SpringsColorado SpringsUSA

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