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89 Or. L. Rev. 453 (2010-2011)
Inheriting Inequality: Wealth, Race, and the Laws of Succession

handle is hein.journals/orglr89 and id is 457 raw text is: PALMA JOY STRAND*

Inheriting Inequality: Wealth, Race,
and the Laws of Succession
I.    Wealth Inequalities, Race, and Inheritance   ............ 457
A. Wealth Inequality      .......................... 458
B. Racial Wealth Disparities    ................   ..... 461
C. The Role of Inheritance in Wealth Inequalities.............. 464
II.   Race and Wealth     .................................. 468
A. Present (and Future) Wealth Effects .......      ........ 469
B. Past Sources of Wealth Effects ........       .......... 473
III.  The Law of Deep Inequality         ..................... 478
A. Race Neutrality: An Obvious Strategy with
Nonobvious Attributes    ............................... 478
B. Using Race-Neutral Initiatives to Reverse the
Economic and Social Consequences of Race................. 480
IV.   Addressing Racial Wealth Disparities with Race-Neutral
Changes to Inheritance Law ...........        ............ 484
A. Inheritance as Windfall Wealth (Addressing
Advantage)        ..........................    ..... 485
B. Intestacy and the Problem of Evaporating Heirs'
Property (Addressing Disadvantage) ................... 491
1. An Heirs' Property Story........       ...... ..... 493
2. Destructive Effects of Intestacy Law .....    ..... 495
3. The Importance of Clear Title ........       ....... 499
Conclusion...................................             ..... 502
* Associate Professor of Law, Creighton Law School. B.S. Stanford University (1978);
J.D. Stanford Law School (1984); LL.M. Georgetown University Law Center (2006). 1
am indebted to Kate Mahern, Ron Volkmer, Justin Hansford, Shelly Kreiczer-Levy,
Heather Way, and Mavis Gragg for their comments. Patrick McCann, Nicole Herbers, and
Jeremy Roose provided valuable research assistance. Finally, I very much appreciate the
financial support provided by a Creighton Law School summer research fellowship.

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