In this article, we study a case of family succession through the analysis of a letter from a mother to her daughter, found after the mother's death. Our hypothesis is that this letter has a privileged value of testimony-object in the process of family succession (material, affective and symbolic). After developing a theoretical discussion about the issue of inheritance, we present the conditions into which we met the daughter, her living and family environments in the moment of the removal of her house on account of a urban intervention by the city hall in the slum where she lives. We then investigate the family's inheritance, theme of the letter. A special focus is given on the position that the State assumed in the process of the patrimonial heritage, analyzing its possible effects in the family relationships and dynamics. Finally, we stress the impossibility to separate psychic and social perspectives in the study of families' successions.
family succession; social context; inheritance