Line #68 Main/InheritanceMurder


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7	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheInheritance https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_inheritance.jpg]]]]
8
9	->'''Professor Farnsworth:''' That's why I've made you my sole heir. The day I die, you'll be a very wealthy woman. Oh my, yes. Incredibly wealthy. The day I die. Because you're so unimpulsive.\
10	'''Leela:''' ''[kicks him into a pit of deadly animals]''
11	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''
12
13	Sometimes, the prospect of legally inheriting something can prompt the heir to speed up the process by way of murder.
14
15	Often, the heirs are just [[{{Greed}} impatient for wealth or power]] -- they want it ''now'', not eventually, and see no reason to wait (or have a [[TrappedByGamblingDebts pressing need for money]] and can't wait). Other times, they're worried that an inheritance which they're ''currently'' in line for will be changed to [[PassedOverInheritance leave them nothing]] -- if they don't inherit quickly, it might be too late.
16
17	Typically, inheriting will require a will, so [[WillAndInheritanceTropes tropes relating to that]] are often in play. A variant is for the murderer to be not the beneficiary of inheritance but the person who'd administer it, which may let them get their hands on it just as well.
18
19	Most jurisdictions have laws that prevent a murderer from inheriting anything from the victim's estate (in the US, this is called the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slayer_rule Slayer rule]]), so not getting caught is essential to making it work. As such, the trope has often been the basis of [[MysteryTropes murder mysteries]], especially historically, although it's now becoming something of a DiscreditedTrope; it's rare to find a murder mystery where the inheritor actually turns out to be the murderer, although it's very common nowadays to find it at least {{Subverted\|Trope}} with the inheritor being a prime suspect who turns out to be innocent.
20
21	[[{{Tontine}} Tontines]] are famous for causing this to happen, to the point where they seldom show up in fiction otherwise. Sometimes comes in a combo with ForgingTheWill, with the murderer both fabricating a claim to inherit and triggering the inheritance. A BlackWidow may be a specialized user of this trope, combining it with being a GoldDigger (although that doesn't necessarily involve inheritance so much as becoming joint owner of everything ''before'' the murder).
22
23	A subtrope of MurderInTheFamily. Compare InsuranceMotivatedMurder, a different way to benefit from offing your nearest and dearest; TheEvilPrince, if the inheritance the person is after is their father's throne; and OnlyCaresAboutInheritance, if a character comes to someone's funeral and/or deathbed in hopes of getting an inheritance.
24
25	Since this is a {{Death Trope\|s}}, there will be '''unmarked spoilers'''.
26
27	[[noreallife]]
28	----
29	!!Examples:
30
31	[[foldercontrol]]
32
33	[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
34	* ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure Jojo's Bizarre Adventure]]''
35	** In ''Phantom Blood'', [[UngratefulBastard Dio Brando]], who was adopted into the Joestar family, attempted to slowly poison and murder his adoptive father, George Joestar, in order to steal his inheritance away from Jonathan. Fortunately for the Joestar family, Dio was found out, although not before he transcended humanity and swore himself to be Jojo's greatest enemy.
36	** The alternate universe counterpart of Dio from ''Steel Ball Run'', Diego Brando, did something rather similar -- marrying an old rich woman and then (presumably) offing her in order to secure her fortune. Unlike Dio, Diego [[KarmaHoudini apparently got away with this with no real negative impact on his career.]]
37	* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', pirate captain Kuro comes up with an elaborate plan to steal a wealthy orphan's fortune: get himself hired as her butler, work for several years ingratiating himself to her and the townsfolk, have his hypnotist buddy make her write a will leaving him everything, then summon his crew to attack the village and make sure she's an unfortunate casualty.
38	* In ''Manga/ShiNiAruki'', one of the theories proposed by those who believe the deaths in the Kurosu family are planned murders is this, as the first death was the elderly and rich patriarch. The detectives suspect protagonist Tokiko, since she is [[IncriminatingIndifference the only one not mourning his death]], while a reporter thinks it might be Tokiko's niece Rina. Ultimately, many of these deaths were ([[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane potentially supernatural]]) accidents, and while it is revealed in the final volume that [[spoiler:Tokiko did somewhat plan her father's death]], it wasn't motivated at all by a desire to inherit the family estate.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder: Comic Books]]
42	* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': ''The Inheritance of Rantanplan'' has the guard dog Rantanplan inherit a fortune from a former convict, who also decided to make Joe Dalton next in line. The Dalton brothers promptly escape and Luke spends most of the book protecting Rantanplan from murder attempts, until [[spoiler:the former convict is found still alive]].
43	* ''ComicBook/{{Violine}}'': Muller and Marushka have Francois' parents murdered by the doctor to get the house from Francois. This puts Francois and his daughter Violine as the last persons standing in their way.
44	* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
45	** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': A story in Issue #43 features a villain planning to kill his relatives for their family's fortune.
46	** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Right before being hired by Julianna Sazia ComicBook/PoisonIvy was wheedling her way into an eccentric billionaire's will by acting as his mistress, with the act doubling as a way to hide her identity from the cops. She runs out of patience and kills him when Sazia contacts her, telling him as he dies that she'd been planning on killing him after he put her in her will but he was taking too long and she had a new opportunity to make a buck land in her lap.
47	* This is the core plot of ''ComicBook/ZiggyPigSillySealComics''. Ziggy Pig sees his trip with Silly Seal to Latveria as an opportunity to have Silly killed so Ziggy can inherit his fortune.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder: Fanfic]]
51	* ''Fanfic/LimpetAU'': Discussed for laughs in "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/42138075 How To Succeed Without Even Trying]]". Luke asks Vader if he has a will, and, when Vader asks why he wants to know, Luke flippantly mentions that Leia's cutting his funding for the Jedi Academy, so he's planning to kill Vader to get his inheritance.
52	* ''Fanfic/MyHeroAcademiaUnchainedPredator'': When reviewing Curator's past, the Slayer sees that he staged a traffic accident to claim his family fortune when he was passed on by his younger, more successful brother. When he was found out to have murdered his family, he used his Quirk to kill [[CopKiller several cops]] [[HeroKiller and a Pro Hero]] before being detained. He disappeared upon transport, leading the Slayer to believe All for One busted Curator out and made a mental note to deliver a CruelAndUnusualDeath to Curator.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder: Film -- Animated]]
56	* ''WesternAnimation/LuckyLukeBalladOfTheDaltons'': Henry Dalton's nephews Joe, William, Jack, and Averell will inherit his fortune [[OnOneCondition if they kill the judge and the jury who sentenced him to death by hanging]].
57	* ''WesternAnimation/TopCatAndTheBeverlyHillsCats'': Attempted by Snerdly, who keeps trying to kill Benny so he'll inherit instead. Also subverted by the fact that he simply arranged for Amy Vandergelt (who was first in line, ahead of Benny) to be kept away from the mansion and unaware of her aunt's death, rather than trying to kill her, and later on he resorts to simply keeping Benny away from the mansion until the time limit is past, which comes far closer to succeeding than any of his other attempts.
58	-->'''Top Cat:''' Ah, Beverly Hills. When they try to terminate ya, they do it with class.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]
62	* ''Film/EightWomen'': Marcel's fortune and who inherits it is brought up as a possible motive for the murderer. The main reason Gaby is suspected is that she's the inheritor. [[spoiler:She didn't do it, though.]]
63	* ''Film/TheCandySnatchers'' contains an indirect example -- Candy's WickedStepfather Avery never makes any direct attempts on her life, but when she's kidnapped and held for ransom, he's happy to let her get murdered so he can inherit her mother's fortune.
64	* ''El miedo no anda en burro'' (''"Fear Doesn't Ride a Donkey"''), starring "la India Maria," has this as its central plot. When the matriarch of a wealthy family dies, her greedy relatives kick out Maria, [[EthnicMenialLabor who had been working as a maid,]] and was the matriarch's only friend, and they forced her to take the old lady's beloved little dog with her. At the will reading, the lawyer states that the [[PetHeir matriarch's estate and money will go to her dog,]] and Maria will act as its regent, [[PassedOverInheritance leaving the relatives with nothing.]] [[HilarityEnsues The rest of the movie centers on the relatives trying to scare Maria to death so that they can get hold of the dog.]]
65	* The first half of ''Film/{{Hex}}'', a Creator/ShawBrothers horror-mystery film, is driven by Leung Chun-yu, the VillainProtagonist GoldDigger's attempts to arrange for his wife's death - by [[FakingTheDead faking his own]] (with some help from the wife's alleged close friend who turns out to be in cahoots with Chun-yu), and [[ScoobyDooHoax pretending to come back as a "ghost"]] to haunt her until she dies of shock. With the wife out of the way, Chun-yu, being the last surviving member of the family, is free to claim the wife's inheritance, a vault filled with priceless jade artifacts.
66	* ''Film/KillersOfTheFlowerMoon''. Under the law you can't buy Osage headrights (the rights to the oil under their land) but you can inherit it. William Hale arranges for male relatives to marry the daughters of Lizzie Q, then arranges to have the daughters murdered to ensure that their fortunes would be inherited by his family upon Lizzie's death. Sadly TruthInTelevision; the film is an adaptation of a nonfiction book of the same title about the murders of dozens if not hundreds of Osage as part of a scheme to steal the Native American nation's newfound oil wealth.
67	* ''Film/KnivesOut'' double-subverts this. [[spoiler:Marta ''didn't'' kill Harlan for the inheritance, because she didn't know about it and thinks she committed AccidentalMurder, but there ''is'' an inheritance murderer: Ransom, who did know Marta was set to inherit and switched the drugs so that she'd be disqualified]]. Except that [[spoiler: Marta actually switched the drugs ''back'' and Harlan wouldn't have died if he hadn't killed ''himself''.]]
68	* ''Film/LostInAlaska'':
69	** It turns out several of Joe's friends back in Alaska were in his will, and are trying to kill him to get their share of the gold he'd found.
70	** Variant with Rosette's boss Jake Stillman, who wants her to marry Joe so Jake can kill him, letting Rosette inherit his gold and then, as her partner, he can claim half of it for himself.
71	* ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'': This is the motive behind the murders -- Lady Van Tassel seeks to claim the Van Garrett and Van Tassel estates by having the Headless Horseman kill all of Van Garrett's other potential heirs (starting with his secret wife and unborn child, which cleared the way for her husband -- Baltus Van Tassel, a relative of Van Garrett -- to inherit), all in the name of revenge on Van Garrett for his actions against her family in her youth.
72	* ''Film/TenLittleMistresses'': Lilith posits that one of the mistresses may have slain Don Valentin because each mistress is due to receive Php 200,000,000 (roughly 3.7 million USD) upon his death. Constantin reminds her that he had recently amended his will to [[spoiler:leave everything to Lilith, and so she actually stands to gain the most from his death.]]
73	* ''Film/AWomansFace'': Torsten was to inherit his uncle's fortune, but then Lars-Erik was born. His plan is to kill him, make it look like an accident, and he wants Anna to do it for him.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder: Literature]]
77	* Turns up ''a lot'' in the works of Creator/AgathaChristie.
78	** In ''Literature/TheABCMurders'', the main murder is this trope; the others are just a coverup for the motive.
79	** One of the unpunished crimes of the victims in ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' was a governess who tricked her charge into getting himself killed so that the boy's inheritance would go to his uncle, her lover. The uncle was not part of the plot and genuinely loved his nephew, and dumped the governess in horror after he realized what she'd done.
80	** In "The Cornish Mystery", the villain's plot is to poison a woman and frame her husband for it, eliminating them both and letting their niece (his fiancée) inherit from them.
81	** In "[[Literature/MurderInTheMews Dead Man's Mirror]]", it's done on behalf of someone else without the beneficiary knowing. The murder victim was threatening to change his will unless his heir married a certain person, but she had secretly married someone else already. Her mother committed the murder so that the inheritance would go through before a showdown could occur.
82	** In "How Does Your Garden Grow?", this is suspected twice after an elderly woman dies of poisoning. The first suspects are her relatives (who are presumed to be heirs), but suspicion then shifts to her young nurse-companion (who actually ''is'' the heir). It turns out that the relatives are guilty, not because they expected to inherit but because if the nurse did, she would learn (and reveal) that the relatives had already helped themselves to a lot of the money while the victim was alive.
83	** In "Wireless", an old woman asks her nephew for help with installing a radio. He's happy to help, setting it up himself, but later she's visited by ghostly voices. Thinking they're of her dead husband, she believes she's going to die soon and writes up a new will where she leaves everything to the nephew (cutting out another relative, who it's implied didn't really do anything to deserve it other than being a modern-moraled woman). She sits in front of the fireplace with the will in hand, hears the voices, and on seeing the specter of her husband in front of her, dies of shock (and lets go of the will, which ends up in the fireplace). The specter then removes its disguise to reveal the nephew, who also removes the equipment he'd used to fake the ghost voices. However, karma bites him as it turns out she hadn't validated the new will (the nephew [[OhCrap suddenly remembers]] a sheet of paper drifting into the fireplace...), so the other girl still gets everything, and just to twist the knife, [[AllForNothing the doctor says she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway.]]
84	** In "The Lemesurier Inheritance", there's an alleged HereditaryCurse that gradually eliminates heirs to the Lemesurier estate until Poirot finds out that it's actually the new heir who has been doing it. (The heir has now found that MurderMakesYouCrazy and is trying to off his ''own'' heir as the curse demands.)
85	** In ''Literature/DumbWitness'', a woman changes her will after thinking that she's the target of this, leaving everything to a non-relative. She's right, and the person who did it makes a successful second attempt, not knowing that the changed will makes it pointless.
86	** A convoluted take on it in ''Literature/AMurderIsAnnounced'': Initially it appears that the apparent intended victim was murdered to claim a fortune she had just inherited. It is revealed in the end that the actual murderer has no intention of killing the person whose death would bring the heir the inheritance immediately, but is entirely prepared -- if reluctantly -- to kill people endangering the secret that [[spoiler:the real legatee died of natural causes long ago and she's been impersonating her ever since]].
87	** In ''Literature/TheMurderOfRogerAckroyd'', suspicion quickly falls on Ralph Paton, Ackroyd's stepson, partly due to the fact that he'd inherit the bulk of the money and was in debt. It's also mentioned that almost everyone else in the story stood to inherit a bequest of some size from the Ackroyd estate, and some of them could have used the money as well.
88	** In ''Literature/TheMurderOnTheLinks'', the killer hopes to obtain the victim's fortune by [[spoiler:marrying his son.]]
89	** In ''Literature/PerilAtEndHouse'', it gets complicated. A woman tells Poirot that she was secretly engaged to a rich guy who just died, and it seems that one of her own heirs is trying to kill her to get the money he left her. Later, when she's [[FakingTheDead pretending to be dead]], someone who wasn't a prime suspect [[ForgingTheWill Forges the Will]], drawing suspicion on themselves... but actually, opportunistic forgery is all they're guilty of. ''Then'' it turns out that the alleged victim was faking the whole thing as cover for murdering and impersonating her [[SignificantNameOverlap same-named cousin]], who is the real heir of the dead guy's money, not her. In other words, someone is pretending to be subject to this trope in order to carry it out themselves.
90	** In ''Literature/SadCypress'', the obvious suspect for murdering a wealthy old woman is her niece, who is worried that she's about to get cut out of the will in favor of someone else (who is also a romantic rival... and who ends up dead too). It turns out that both murders were part of a two-stage version of this trope, having been committed by someone who secretly stood to inherit the first victim's money by way of the second victim.
91	** "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" has a young lord murdered, supposedly by an Egyptian curse. It's actually by the expedition's doctor, who was friends with him years earlier when he jokingly made a will leaving the doctor as his heir (as he stated his actual assets would likely be limited to a cigarette case and bar tabs). When the lord's rich and only relative dies, the doctor realizes there's a fortune to be made and strikes. Shame Literature/HerculePoirot was there...
92	** ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'' has the primary murder be a mix of this and [[spoiler:MurderTheHypotenuse - the victim is killed by her husband and his lover so they can have each other and her money]].
93	* ''Literature/BlackmailAndBibingka'': It's stated early on that the victim was married to an older man who left everything to her, telling his children that [[PassedOverInheritance they should work for a change]]. There's a clause in the will that says that the patriarch's assets will default to his children if his wife dies without an heir, giving one of the twins the motive to kill her before she gets remarried.
94	* ''Literature/TheCatInTheStacksMysteries'':
95	** Discussed more than once, as the first two books (and Ladies #4) make mention of the fact that in Mississippi, murderers aren't allowed to profit from their crimes, so killing someone they were supposed to inherit from automatically makes them ineligible to inherit.
96	** A variant happens in book 1 when Godfrey Priest has added his supposed son Justin Wardlaw to his will, but soon figures out that Justin is actually his ''nephew''. It's not Justin himself, but rather [[spoiler:Justin's mother]] who kills Godfrey to ensure that he can't change his will again in light of this discovery. It's never confirmed in later books if Justin got his inheritance after this, due to the above law.
97	** In book 2, when James Delacorte turns up dead, it's suspected that the killer did so to speed up their inheritance. Turns out that's exactly the case. It's not a family member, as initially suspected, though -- it's his butler and primary heir, Nigel Truesdale.
98	** In Ladies #1, the victims are all killed to clear the way for the murderer to inherit, the first two because their portions revert to the estate that way and the last a straight-out inheritance murder.
99	** In Ladies #4, the victim is again killed so the killer can get their hands on his money.
100	* In ''Literature/TheBigOverEasy'', Lola Vavoom secretly married Humpty in order to gain possession of his Spongg footcare shares, which would become valuable once his scheme came to fruition. She then plotted to kill Humpty together with Lord Spongg.
101	--> "All to wife."
102	--> --Humpy's Will
103	* ''Literature/TheCatWhoSeries'':
104	** The motive for Hilary [=VanBrook=]'s death in book #12 (''The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal''). The killer wanted to off him before he could change his will and disinherit his intended heir (who was merely an accomplice, but agrees to testify against the killer afterward) for dropping out of school. However, the killer acted too late, and the man's belongings and money all go to his new heir -- the Pickax school system -- instead.
105	** In book #13 (''The Cat Who Moved a Mountain''), this was the motive for J.J. Hawkinfield's murder -- his daughter had him killed so she could collect her inheritance.
106	** In book #25 (''The Cat Who Brought Down the House''), this is effectively why Richard "Dick" Thackeray became a killer -- first he pushed his own father to his death, and then intended to kill his aunt, who'd inherited all his father's liquid assets, after becoming her heir. Unfortunately for Dick, Thelma has already changed her will to disinherit him, and then shoots him dead for his crimes.
107	** In book #28 (''The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell''), Harvey Ledfield slips mold into the air vents of his aunt and uncle's home, triggering respiratory illnesses that eventually kill them, all to ensure he'll get their money to invest in a ski lodge he's wanting to fund. It comes out afterward that he wouldn't have gotten anything, as all their money goes to charitable groups.
108	* In ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', Valentine's maternal grandfather dies on the way to Paris, soon followed by her grandmother, making Valentine the heir (her mother died young and her father remarried). Then it turns out someone's been trying to poison her paternal grandfather, though fortunately, his AcquiredPoisonImmunity saves him. Due to the motives, the family doctor starts suspecting Valentine herself until she too is poisoned. It turns out it was her stepmother who wanted her own son to inherit both family's fortunes.
109	* In ''Literature/DaddysLittleGirl'', there are rumours that Rob Westerfield was secretly the mastermind behind the attempted murder of his grandmother in a supposed burglary gone wrong; Marcus Longo speculates he wanted more money to fuel his drug habit even though Dorothy was already giving him access to a trust fund. Ellie discovers evidence and a new witness that confirms Rob indeed tried this; although it's not enough to get him arrested, it convinces his grandmother and she promptly alters her will so Rob gets nothing.
110	* Literature/DanteValentine is a necromancer who offers consulting services on estate cases as one of her day jobs. She gets ''very'' cross with the attorney when she's hired only to discover when she channels the decedent that he was murdered by one of the heirs -- she charges extra for murder cases.
111	* In ''Literature/DialAGhost'', Fulton and Frieda Snodde-Brittle attempt to hire ghosts who can scare their cousin Oliver badly enough to give him a fatal asthma attack so that they can inherit the Snodde-Brittle estate and family fortune. (Although they're willing to settle for the ghosts just driving him mad so they can institutionalize him and inherit that way.)
112	* The Literature/{{Discworld}} book ''Literature/MakingMoney'' has shares which would control a bank being [[PetHeir left to a dog]], and there is, therefore, a legitimate concern that the people who would otherwise have gotten them will try to move the shares on by killing the dog.
113	* ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' series by Creator/DorothyLSayers:
114	** In ''Unnatural Death'', when Agatha Dawson dies, Lord Peter immediately suspects her great-niece and heir, Mary Whittaker. [[spoiler: It turns out that the Succession Act of 1925 means that Agatha Dawson's great-niece is no longer her heir by default, and she refused to make a proper will while she was alive; thus, Mary had a very good reason to want Agatha dead before the Act took effect.]]
115	** In ''The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club'', elderly Lady Dormer left most of her money to her brother General Fentiman -- or, if he was dead at the time of her death, to her companion Ann Dorland, and not to her brother's grandsons and heirs. Thus, those grandsons, Ann Dorland, and [[spoiler:Ann Dorland's fiance]], all have strong reasons to care which of the two of them dies first.
116	** In ''Strong Poison'', Harriet Vane is accused -- and tried -- for murdering her ex-lover Philip Boyes with arsenic. It turns out that [[spoiler:his aunt Cremorna Garden]] had made a will leaving him a great deal of money. [[spoiler:Norman Urquhart had "borrowed" her money without permission and then lost most of it, so he murdered Philip so that nobody would notice the missing fortune.]]
117	** In ''Have His Carcase'', Paul Alexis was murdered by [[spoiler:his fiancee's son, who didn't want his mother leaving her money to a stepfather instead of to him.]]
118	** In ''Busman's Honeymoon'', William Noakes was murdered by [[spoiler:his niece's suitor, Frank Crutchley, who meant to marry her for her inheritance.]]
119	* ''Literature/TheHanSoloAdventures'': TheMole in ''Han Solo at Stars’ End'' does a variant of this. [[spoiler:He tips off the Corporate Sector that his father and older brother are speaking against them, knowing this will get his relatives either killed or arrested and leave him in control of the family fortune. When they're merely sent to a prison facility, he attempts to sabotage efforts to rescue them.]]
120	* ''Literature/HannahSwensen'':
121	** [[spoiler:It's revealed in ''Peach Cobbler Murder'' that Vanessa Quinn, after marrying the rich and elderly Neil Roper, manipulated him into making her his sole heir and later murdered him to get the money.]]
122	** Discussed as a motive for murder in ''Apple Turnover Murder'', but ultimately subverted. Bradford Ramsey had been married at least twice, and his first wife's parents were so impressed with him that they included him in their will, with his getting half of their money -- several million dollars. They hadn't had the chance to write him back out after the divorce, and when they suddenly died in a car accident, their daughter would have had the perfect motivation to kill him and thus inherit everything. The subversion comes when it's revealed she was in the car with them and was in the hospital, being treated for a broken shoulder, when Bradford was subsequently murdered.
123	* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'':
124	** What the murder of ''This Pen for Hire'' was about, [[spoiler:albeit not direct money. Cameron was going to kill Marion to inherit a photo of her in a frame, which in reality, had a photo of Creator/CaryGrant underneath it. The murder became pointless because a) the wrong person died and b) Marion was already dead at the time.]]
125	** Also the case in [[spoiler:''Killer Blonde''. [=SueEllen=] Kingsley was set to inherit $3 million from her Aunt Melanie. However, that money would go to her sister Carolee if [=SueEllen=] died first, so Carolee, AKA Conchi the maid, made that happen.]]
126	** Happens again in [[spoiler:''Killing Bridezilla''. There, Conrad Devane was hoping that Patti's death before the wedding would have her money revert back to her mother, which he could then put back into his developments. Unbeknownst to him, Patti and Dickie had already married earlier in Vegas, so the money actually goes to Dickie]][[spoiler:...or at least, it ''would'' if there ''was'' any money left...]]
127	* In the Literature/MaryRussell novel ''A Letter of Mary'', the murder victim planned to bestow her money to fund the continuation of her life's work, and was done in by a relative who wanted to keep it in the family.
128	* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'':
129	** In ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles'', Holmes and Watson are both in the dark as to why Stapleton would want to murder Sir Henry and allow him to court his sister but not propose. Then Holmes sees a series of family portraits and it clicks: Stapleton is the descendant of the BlackSheep of the Baskerville family, who'd already murdered the previous tenant of Baskerville Hall and plans to inherit the property. Exactly how he plans to do this, given that he's been there several years under the Stapleton identity, is not directly answered, though Holmes gives a few possibilities at the end: Claim it from South America, go in another disguise, or even possibly via a third person posing as the heir (and had his wife act as his sister to further ensnare Sir Henry).
130	** In "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", Jonas Oldacre (the titular builder) leaves a surprise bequest to young lawyer John Hector [=McFarlane=], who is suspected of Oldacre's murder soon after, supposedly to speed up the process of inheriting. It turns out Oldacre faked his death and framed [=McFarlane=] in revenge for [=McFarlane=]'s mother rejecting Oldacre years before.
131	** "The Speckled Band" has the victims' stepfather murder them so as not to lose the income they receive from their dead mother's investments.
132	** In the non-canon story ''The Doctor's Case'' (written by Creator/StephenKing), the victim is murdered by his family shortly after he'd announced that he was disinheriting all of them out of spite, after which they destroy the new will. Holmes and Lestrade ultimately decide to conceal the evidence and let them claim the estate on the grounds that he was an AssholeVictim.
133	* Occurs a lot in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
134	** Done by proxy in the fourth book. [[GoldDigger Bronn]] marries Lollys Stokeworth, second in line to inherit her mother's lands, incomes, and titles. When Lady Stokeworth dies, Bronn kills Lollys' brother-in-law and banishes her older sister Falyse[[note]]Falyse is later tortured to death on the orders of Queen Cersei, though not for Lollys' sake[[/note]], making Lollys the new Lady Stokeworth. Though Bronn doesn't directly inherit anything, as Lollys' husband he controls her wealth.
135	** It's obvious to everyone in the Iron Islands that Euron Greyjoy had a role to play in his older brother Balon's death. He's been in exile for two years and just happens to come home the day after Balon's body washes up on shore? The youngest Greyjoy brother Aeron tries to subvert this trope by calling a Kingsmoot, allowing the ironborn to choose their next king, but Euron double-subverts it by winning and become the new king anyway.[[note]]Euron is actually ''third'' in line to inherit after Balon since he had two children; however [[HeirClubForMen Asha is a girl]], and thus doesn't have much support for her claim, and Theon is believed to be dead.[[/note]]
136	** King Aerys the Mad suspected that his son and heir Prince Rhaegar had been plotting to kill him for power. There are hints that Rhaegar may have indeed wanted to remove his father from power, but nothing's certain.
137	** It's commonly believed that Viserys II poisoned his nephew Baelor to acquire the Iron Throne, and [[LaserGuidedKarma was in turn poisoned]] by his own son Aegon IV for the very same reason only a year later. However, many people think Baelor died due to his excessive fasting... though it does seem in character for the notoriously selfish and cruel Aegon to have killed his father.
138	** Gerold Lannister was accused of murdering his brother Tybolt and niece Cerelle in order to gain the lordship of Casterly Rock. It's uncertain if he actually did, however.
139	** Hagon Hoare sold out his older brother Harmund, along with their mother, to his detractors in order to become King of the Iron Islands.
140	* "Literature/TalmaGordon": When it's discovered that Captain Gordon intended to leave the bulk of his fortune to his son and only a small annuity for his daughters Talma and Jeannette, that the will and other papers were missing, and that Talma and her father had a terrible fight over her lover, it's assumed that she was responsible for his murder, since no one would have so much to gain from it as her and her sister. [[spoiler:Later it turns out Jeannette had ''planned'' to murder him for the inheritance, but someone else got to him first, so she gathered the papers and fled.]]
141	* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Clan law dictates that the Clan deputy becomes their Clan's leader if the leader dies. In the first series, Tigerclaw attempted to murder his leader, Bluestar; he, as [=ThunderClan=]'s deputy, would have inherited her position if he had succeeded.
142	* In the fifth ''Literature/TwelveHouses'' book, the BigBad is a minor noblewoman who missed out on a chance to become a mid-level noblewoman. So instead she comes up with a plot to marry her daughter to another minor nobleman, and kill the most important noble in their part of the country. Since ''that'' noble had no close relatives, her titles would, after the authorities spent some time looking up the genealogies, go to a distant cousin -- the minor nobleman the BigBad planned on marrying her daughter to.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
146	* On ''Series/BattleCreek'' the detectives are investigating a woman's murder when they discover that she has been spending a lot of time with an older wealthy man who died a few days before her. They suspect that the deaths are related and that the man's children might have killed him for his money. However, this theory is subverted when it is revealed that the man died of natural causes. [[spoiler: The dead woman was the man's illegitimate daughter and was killed by her half-siblings so they would not have to share their inheritance with her. After they are arrested, the dead woman's son inherits everything.]]
147	* ''Series/{{Belgravia}}'' culminates in [[spoiler:John Bellasis attempting to murder his cousin Charles Pope so he can get his status as Lord Brockenhurst's heir (Lord Brockenhurst is John's uncle/Charles' grandfather) back.]]
148	* In the ''Series/{{Decoy}}'' episode "Bullet of Hate," a man encourages his niece to murder his wife so he can spend the $2000 she has stashed away.
149	* ''Series/DiagnosisMurder'' has a millionaire who decides to leave his fortune to a hospital, but who dies before he can change his will. Naturally, suspicion falls on his three awful children.
150	* ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' had an episode where three cousins are trying to murder their uncle for the inheritance, prompting Chapulin to try to protect him. In the end, he survives and explains to them that even if they succeeded, it would have been for naught, because he already changed his will to give all his money for charity.
151	* ''Series/TheFugitive'' (2000). Much like in the movie (which the 2000 series is far more based on rather than on the original show) Kimble is believed to have murdered his wife to get his hands on her money (and again, the fact that he was already a wealthy doctor is ignored). He can't make anyone believe that he ''didn't'' want to use her money to buy a new house (either to avoid looking like a GoldDigger or because of some antiquated notion that he, as the man, should be the one to do so).
152	* Subverted and played with for an episode ''Series/GilligansIsland''. Mr. Howell changes his will to include his fellow castaways. Then a group of circumstances makes him think they're trying to kill him. However (predictably), that's wrong; they were collaborating on a surprise party for him.
153	* ''Series/TheGoodies''. Parodied in "Cecily" when the little girl who's apparently the subject of numerous attempts to scare her to death for her 50,000 pound inheritance is actually just pranking the Goodies. She ends up [[FilleFatale blowing up the house with them in it.]]
154	* ''Series/HawaiiFive0'': In "Hoʻamoano", the suspect in the murder of a woman turns out to be her half-brother, who killed her in fear that he'll lose some of his inheritance to her.
155	* This is played with on ''Series/{{Limitless}}''. After a billionaire is murdered, Brian theorizes that one or more of the man's children might have killed him for the inheritance but it seems to be subverted when he is told that the man publicly disinherited his children some time ago and left all his money to various charities. It is then double subverted when it comes out that the dead mans' new will was never properly filed and thus his children might have murdered him if they knew about it. At the end [[spoiler: the man was murdered by his lawyer who conspired with some of the children to hide the new will and split the money with them.]]
156	* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' had a rich {{Jerkass}} tell two or three people they'd be the sole inheritors of his fortune (without informing the others), just so that they'd show up to the reading and discover they got nothing. Since he's the [[BodyOfTheWeek episode's first victim]], and some of the claimants follow him, there is naturally suspicion about this trope being in play.
157	* Very common in ''Series/{{Monk}}''. If a murder victim's spouse appears on-screen it was almost certainly them, either because of this or ADeadlyAffair:
158	** In "Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized", a woman is apparently abducted by her massively wealthy Fiction500 husband while they're going through a rocky divorce, and she kills him in the escape. It turns that thanks to a prenup she wouldn't be able to cash out on the divorce, so she bumped him off before it was finalized and staged the kidnapping as a SelfDefenseRuse so she could inherit everything.
159	** In "Mr. Monk and the Psychic", the killer murders his rich wife so he can collect her inheritance and a large life insurance policy. He makes it look like she died in a car wreck but an unfortunately-timed landslide buries her and the car; since he can't inherit anything until she's officially dead, and he can't exactly go and dig her up himself, he drugs a PhonyPsychic and makes it look like she found her instead.
160	** "Mr. Monk is at Your Service" has a case where a car accident supposedly kills the the bad guy's wealthy parents, and the fortunes of their respective children [[HollywoodLaw are said to]] depend on which of them died earlier. The killer's father dies first, which would leave his sisters with the money, so he murders his mother and stages the car accident so it will look like she died first.
161	** "Mr. Monk and the Leper" features a sort of inverted version. A woman kills her CEO husband, only to find that he had left the bulk of his fortune to his sister and nephews. Since they NeverFoundTheBody the matter of his death is left open, letting her live large as joint owner of his wealth until several years later when the actual inheritors petition to have him officially declared dead. She ends up orchestrating a scheme to make it look like the victim is still alive and in hiding so she can keep living off his money.
162	** Another variation: In "Mr. Monk and the Other Woman", the killer finds out that his uncle cut him out of his will. While he doesn't kill the uncle (who's on the verge of death anyways) he ''does'' break into his uncle's lawyer's office and switch the will with one leaving him everything, before murdering the lawyer who would obviously know the contents of the real thing.
163	* In ''Series/TheMillionaire'', each episode features somebody anonymously receiving a check for one million dollars from an EccentricMillionaire. In several of the episodes, the recipient becomes a target of somebody who hopes to inherit the million.
164	* In the ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' episode "[[Recap/MurderSheWroteS3E12CrossedUp Crossed Up]]", Mr. Rogers had quarreled extensively with his family. The morning he was found dead, he had intended to meet with his lawyer to cut all of them except his granddaughter Leslie out of the will. [[spoiler: Dody Rogers, his daughter-in-law, shot him before he could disinherit her and her husband.]]
165	* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' Earl wins the lottery shortly after his wife Joy divorced him. Joy is upset that she will not get a share of the money but remembers that Earl once made a video where he stated that should he die, Joy should get all his property. Based on this, Joy attempts to kill Earl. She fails multiple times and when Earl realizes what is going on, he informs her that he has already had a new will drawn up and she will get nothing if he dies.
166	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': In "The Californians" sketch in the 40th Anniversary special, cousin Alison (Taylor Swift) sabotaged Great Aunt Lana's (Betty White) hot air balloon in order to inherit Lana's fortune, since she is the only one in Lana's will. But Lana turns up alive.
167
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Music]]
171	* Music/StephenLynch's "When Grandfather Dies" is all about how much he looks forward to inheriting all of the money his grandfather had saved up, becoming progressively impatient with grandpa's [[WhyWontYouDie stubborn refusal to just die already]], eventually leading to this. Unfortunately...
172	-->''Before I collect, [[DidNotThinkThisThrough a small oversight]], but everything should turn out alright... [[HereWeGoAgain I'll start working on my grandma tonight]]."
173	* Mentioned in Music/TaylorSwift's "Anti-Hero" from ''Music/{{Midnights}}''. The narrator dreams about her [[ObnoxiousInLaws daughter-in-law]] killing her for her money. The joke's on her, though - while the lyrics simply imply that the narrator didn't leave them anything in the will, the music video expands upon it by having the children receive 13 cents and the narrator's beach house being given to [[PetHeir her cats]].
174	-->I have this dream my daughter in-law kills me for the money\
175	She thinks I left them in the will\
176	The family gathers 'round and reads it and then someone screams out\
177	"She's laughing up at us from Hell"
178	[[/folder]]
179
180	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
181	* The board game ''13 Dead End Drive'' has everyone competing for an inheritance by trying to bump off everyone else [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident through circumspect means]]. ''WebVideo/BoardJames'' plays it [[https://youtu.be/5amFRDngyHs here]].
182	* ''TabletopGame/TheTragedyOfMcDeath'' (an early ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' campaign): Julia MacEwan's real motivation for joining the alliance against [=McDeath=] is that she's the illegitimate daughter of [[{{Theatre/Macbeth}} king Dunco, whose throne McDeath usurped]] and needs to find the letters proving this in the treasury. Then she needs to find a way to remove said king's legitimate heirs, Donalbane and Charles, either MurderByInaction or outright murdering them. Other people involved who want him dead don't particularly care about the title, but [=McDeath=] does have quite the treasury...
183	[[/folder]]
184
185	[[folder:Theatre]]
186	* In ''The Theatre/FarndaleAvenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery'', the show-within-a-show whodunnit revolves around the various members of a family gathered for a will reading being killed off one by one to secure an inheritance.
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Video Games]]
190	* A variant from ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'': Korgan [[SiblingMurder murdered his brothers]] after their father died in order to be the only beneficiary the inheritance. He never states whether or not he murdered his father for said inheritance in the first place, though his choice of wording -- and Korgan not being the type to dodge responsibility for someone's death -- implies he didn't.
191	* ''VideoGame/TheColonelsBequest'' is a notable subversion. Within an hour of Colonel Dijon announcing that everyone (apart from Laura, the player character) present at the meal who outlives him will receive an equal share of his estate, people start dying. The obvious conclusion is that somebody wants a larger slice of the estate, but it ultimately turns out that [[spoiler:the killer had a mental breakdown about the will proving that she wasn't really her uncle's favorite as she'd always thought, and decided to restore her perceived place as his favorite relative by becoming his '''only''' relative.]]
192	* In ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseCityOfRomance'', designer Charles Pilsnerfeld is killed, and one of the suspects is Simone Lemaitre, his business partner whom he had previously promised total control of the company at the event of his death. [[spoiler:Simone is the murderer, having killed Charles in haste when the designer announced that he plans to leave his company to his [[PetHeir cat]] instead of Simone. Unfortunately for her, Charles had already changed his will, rendering her murder of him [[AllForNothing pointless]] even if she hadn't been caught.]]
193	* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', acquiring a position as heir or speeding up the inheritance through a variety of creative means is par for the course. So is killing off one's siblings under gavelkind inheritance to acquire a larger slice of the pie. In a variation, sometimes what's inherited isn't actual land, but simply a claim to land by being in the line of succession; the latter allows you to engage in warfare rather than mere murder to grab the contested land.
194	* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': One {{Sidequest}} has a newlywed hire the player character to assassinate his wealthy father-in-law for his inheritance, with the implication that he's already begun to poison the bride. The PC can [[StealingFromThieves double-cross him]] and join forces with the father-in-law or carry out the murder and reveal that [[spoiler:the father-in-law named [[PetHeir his prized pig]] as sole inheritor.]]
195	* Can often happen unintentionally in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', due to [[GoodBadBugs the inheritance mechanic not being very well polished]]. Sometimes a courier will track down the player after the death of an NPC, alerting them that they've received an inheritance from them... even if you were the person who killed that NPC, and that was the only time you met them. This extends to [=NPCs=] that literally cannot be peacefully be interacted with, such hired thugs sent to kill you.
196	* In ''VideoGame/EnigmaAnIllusionNamedFamily'', most of Minhyuk's family has been fighting over the money they were supposed to inherit after their father's death for the last ''ten years''. When they find themselves trapped in the manor by their own security system with an unknown murderer wandering around, suspicions naturally run high that this is the case. [[spoiler:However, this is ultimately subverted- the killer, Minhyuk's SplitPersonality, actually wants revenge on the family for their mistreatment of him.]]
197	* In ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', one mission tasks you to infiltrate the wedding of the son of a wealthy crime boss to assasinate the groom and his father, with the stipulation that [[WidowedAtTheWedding the son may only be killed after the official wedding ceremony and the bride cannot be harmed]]. A few missions later, a small article in the newspaper talks about the sudden appearance of a mysterious wealthy socialite. It won't surprise you that the woman pictured looks an aweful lot like the bride.
198	* ''VideoGame/MurderInTheAlps'':
199	** Aldo Molinelli, the president of the wealthy Molinelli Industries, is murdered in ''The Heir'' by Osvald Bernstein, the company's longtime employee and a friend of both the Molinellis and the protagonist Anna Myers. Anna discovers Osvald to be Aldo's cousin through Aldo's estranged aunt who was disinherited for marrying against her father's will. In addition to murdering Aldo, Osvald tricks his dying uncle, Aldo's father, to sign a will that will give him ownership over Molinelli Industries since Osvald is the only living blood relative of Aldo's father. If not for Anna, he'd have gotten away with his crimes and framed an innocent person for the murder.
200	** It's revealed in ''The Only Redemption'' that Elsa Brandt, an unsuccessful actress, [[SweetPollyOliver disguised herself as Eugen Graner]] in order to marry an elderly widow and inherit her wealth by murdering her. When the real identity of the murderer was discovered, Elsa escaped to hide in Porto Ceso as [[spoiler:Marco Vizzini]].
201	[[/folder]]
202
203	[[folder: Webcomics]]
204	* In ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom'', Princess Rosaline was content with waiting for her inheritance as long as she was sure to find it waiting for her; but when she learned her parents were trying to [[HeirClubForMen make a male heir]], she tried to poison them, leaving them in a coma.
205	* In ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'', this is actually part of a deal made by the rich guy and the potential inheritor, with Avogadro agreeing to give Kharisma a few months to get rid of him before he cuts her out of his will again. He dies without her involvement, but because of all her attempts, there's enough evidence to arrest her for murder anyway... and it turns out he lied about ever putting her in his will in the first place.
206	[[/folder]]
207
208	[[folder: Web Original]]
209	* A mystical version turns out to be at the center of several plot threads in ''Literature/HereticalEdge''. [[spoiler:All of the murder attempts Avalon has faced were encouraged by the Seosten because she is the closest living relative of Liesje Aken and thus the only person who can open her blood vault containing a way to protect anyone from [[DemonicPossession being possessed by Seosten]], and the Seosten want their pawn to be the closest relative so she can acquire and destroy the method. Professor Pericles was murdered because an unintentional spell interaction made the Seosten believe he was the one who cast spells on Avalon to protect her and mark anyone who managed to kill her (hence why the Seosten resorted to subtly encouraging others to do the job) and [[NoOntologicalInertia the spells would end with the caster's death]].]]
210	* In ''Literature/PayMeBug'', it's speculated that Baron Mogra Tylaris was killed by his son Rolis so he could inherit the throne. In the sequel, ''A Rake by Starlight'', it's proven true.
211	[[/folder]]
212
213	[[folder: Web Video]]
214	* In the first episode of season 2 of ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'', "Honey Queen", Sam Sweetly kills Zoey's grandmother by messing with her medications so that Zoey can get her inheritance.
215	[[/folder]]
216
217	[[folder: Western Animation]]
218	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': In "Inqueling", it's revealed that, before her mutation, Inque gave birth to a daughter she subsequently gave up for adoption. When the two reunite in the show, [[GiveHimANormalLife Inque explains that she had grown up poor and let herself become Inque all for the money, and she wanted to give her daughter an easier life with normal parents and a large trust fund]]. When Inque reveals just how much money she has, however, her daughter tries to kill her in order to get control of her bank accounts. [[CallingTheOldManOut She points out that Inque never gave her anything]] ''[[CallingTheOldManOut except]]'' [[CallingTheOldManOut money]], [[DeconstructedTrope so why is Inque surprised that she wants more of it]]?
219	* One of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'s'' "Anthology of Interest" WhatIf episodes has Professor Farnsworth record a [[VideoWills Video Will]] leaving everything he owns to Leela, prompting Leela to kill him so quickly it's recorded in the video will itself. Oddly, she didn't murder him so much because of the inheritance, but primarily because she was sick of being considered not-impulsive.
220	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' has used this more than once.
221	** "The Case of the Stuttering Pig" revolves around an AmoralAttorney ([[IronicName named Lawyer Goodwill]]) trying to kill Porky's family members to gain Porky's uncle's inheritance. Strangely for a ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, most of this is PlayedForDrama.
222	** A more comedic example comes from "Dough Ray Me-Ow", where a cat named Heathcliff is promised millions, but in the event that Heathcliff is absent, Louie the parrot gets it instead. HilarityEnsues as Louie tries (and fails) to kill Heathcliff.
223	* The Hooded Claw, CardCarryingVillain from Creator/HannaBarbera's ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'', routinely tries to terminate Penelope because his alternate identity is Sylvester Sneekly, who would be the executor to her estate. This explains why the Hooded Claw uses the ConveyorBeltODoom and similar mechanisms to dispose of his victim: it allows him to be seen elsewhere as Sneekly, thus allaying suspicion.
224	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Double, Double Boy in Trouble", Bart [[PrinceAndPauper switches places with an identical rich kid]], but it turns out Simon did it so he can avoid getting killed by his step-siblings for his money. This is referenced by Mr. Burns, who gained his family fortune when his siblings died of various causes.
225	[[/folder]]
226

Context Main / InheritanceMurder