In economics, inheritance means transfer of unconsumed assets from one generation to the next. The goal of estate tax is to reduce the volume of such transfer. Adam Smith in his work, The Wealth of Nations, commented that all taxes upon the transference of property of every kind, so far as they diminish the capital [...]

Inheritance is a civil right and not a natural right. Way back in 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to take property by devise or descent is the creature of the law and not a natural right. The government had the absolute right to decide as to the terms upon which a person [...]