Sections Contest Property disposition Common types Other types Governing doctrines Advancement is a common law doctrine of intestate succession that presumes that gifts given to a person's heir during that person's life are intended as an advance on what that heir would inherit upon the death of the parent.
The principle is of ancient origin; as regards goods and chattels it was part of the ancient customs of London and the province of York, and as regards land descending in coparcenary (under which only one heir can claim an inheritance) it was always part of the common law of England under the name of hotchpot.
No child can be forced to account for his or her advancement, but instead he will be excluded from a share in the intestate's estate.
The usual judicial view was that any considerable sum of money paid to a child at that child's request is an advancement; thus payment of a son's debts of honour has been held to be an advancement.
The Uniform Probate Code, which has been adopted in whole or in part by a number of states, limits the doctrine by requiring a contemporaneous writing from the deceased, or any writing from the property recipient, indicating that the property is intended to be treated as an advance upon the estate.