Inheritance in Illuminatia
Inheritance is not recognized, practiced, or permitted in Illuminatia. Upon one's Termination of Life event, the remaining assets that once belonged to the deceased person and which are not actively in use by the deceased's immediate household are peaceably seized by the Department of Monetary Policy (DMP) and distributed to the deceased person's regional community.
The distribution of the deceased's assets is governed by an algorithm determined by the DMP, which prioritizes community members near to the deceased who are in the greatest need of additional assets. The system distributes excess assets generally as liquid funds in the form of Monetary Unit (μ) balances first to persons with minimal non-monetary assets who are experiencing near-zero or negative balances in their Monetary Network accounts. Weight is given to those within communal and geographic proximity to the deceased. A remainder of assets are then distributed in support of communal needs as administered by the deceased's local tertiary assembly.
Those benefitting from the receipt of excess funds from the deceased are provided information identifying the deceased person whose funds they are receiving. Beneficiaries often decide to send a communication of gratitude to the deceased's household or surviving family unit. A person receiving funds may volunteer to return a small percentage of the funds to the deceased's family as a token of gratitude or may choose to send back a larger portion of the funds if the recipient feels their level of need may be less than that of the deceased's surviving family. Some people may return a portion of funds purely in acknowledgement of the deceased's reputation or popularity.
Those who are expecting death can designate a percentage of their wealth to selected nonprofit organizations as a way of allowing people some level of autonomy over the fate of their assets. This planned giving is permissible so long as those beneficiary organizations are in no way overseen or associated with the person anticipating death or their immediate family or household members. This giving works in the same way as voluntary charitable contribution, except that there are strict controls prohibiting the funds from being distributed in any way that would unduly perpetuate the carrying of wealth between generations of family, which is among the primary objectives of Illuminatia's ban on direct inheritance.
The resulting system of asset distribution and non-inheritance discourages the accumulation of wealth especially on an intergenerational basis, diminishing the societal ills and perpetual inequity known to be experienced as a result of earlier Earthly systems of inheritance, in which wealth hoarding was known to run rampant. Procedures put in place by the Office of the Monetary Network (OMN) keep the logistics of the pre-death and post-death distribution of monetary assets public, eliminating issues that could arise from secrecy in the movement of funds, and encouraging a high level of trust among the general public as to the fairness of the system and the societal benefit that the non-inheritance system produces.