The Financial Times notes a new book out by Ray D. Madoff called “Immortality and the Law” which is about the ever-increasing rates of dead people to control the rights of the living. Of course, people cannot take their property with them. However, it does seem nonsensical that individuals have a wide range of obligations to their family that simply evaporate on death, forcing family members to become wards of the state. Unfortunately, in the United States, this seems to happen over and over again.
From a positive review of the book, which I should hope to write about in the future in this space, there also appears to be a hostility to charitable foundations. It questions whether this is a net societal benefit. The underlying assumption here is that somehow the government can spend money in a manner that is more likely to benefit society. Given where government funds are usually spent, a small portion of which is really for societal benefit, I would question the underlying assumption.
In the Islamic rules of inheritance, family members have rights to inheritance that cannot be changed by the deceased person during his lifetime. An individual can give their money away during their life, however it cannot be intended to injure the rights of the people who are entitled to inheritance under the Islamic rules of inheritance. Up to one third may be utilized for a beneficial purpose, including charity. The Islamic rules of inheritance provides a middle way between simply allowing for a property owner to engage in his own personal vanities while at the same time,allowing the utilization of resources for charitable purposes as well.
