The History of U.S. Inheritance Laws

Adam J. Hirsch wrote an interesting article on the evolution of inheritance laws in the United States.  The article is divided by time period.

The colonial period: 

• Authority over inheritance of personal and real property was handled by one court as opposed to two as it was in Great Britain.
• Intestacy laws turned to a more equal, if not totally equal, intestacy rule for children.
• Virginia introduced the holographic will as an exception to witness requirements.

The American Revolution:

• Equal treatment of children in intestacy spread to all states.
• Entails, or restrictions on land ownership limited to the testator's descendants, were abolished in most states.

The Nineteenth Century:

• Inheritance rights of a surviving spouse grew: Texas introduced the first surviving spouse homestead right guaranteeing the surviving spouse a life estate in the family home; more states gave personal property inheritance rights to the surviving spouse; all but one state provided a forced share for a surviving spouse; the surviving spouse begins taking through intestacy to the exclusion of children.
• The use of trusts greatly expanded: The spendthrift trust developed to keep creditors away from trust funds, business and pension trusts emerged, and the prudent investor rule emerged.

The Twentieth Century

• The Rise of Federal Taxes: The estate tax, which had been used only during military crisis, became a permanent institution; the gift tax was enacted simultaneously; the generation skipping tax was later introduced.
• Trusts Expand: the dynasty trust resulted when states began abolishing the rule against perpetuities and the living trust became an inexpensive and popular alternative to a will.

The author notes that the field of law as a whole remains a low priority for legislatures, and as a result, new cases involving alternative reproductive technology are solved with laws enacted as early as 1836. 

See Adam J. Hirsch, Inheritance: United States Law, 3 Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History 235, (Stanly N. Katz ed. 2009).