Cutting off by Cutting out? Estrangement Processes in the Context of the Intergenerational Transfer of Property

Drawing on ongoing ethnographic research on rifts between parents and their adult children in Switzerland, this paper examines estrangement processes within the context of intergenerational property transfers. The (prospective) death of a parent, along with related questions surrounding wills, inheritance, and the distribution of heirlooms and mementos, can intensify familial conflicts that have often been simmering for a long time, and may also create new ones. Recent research on kin relations and inheritance has employed “(de‑)kinning” as an exploratory tool to examine how property transfers “make” and “unmake” kin relations. However, as the case presented in this paper suggests, adult children affected by contested property transfers did not frame such transfers in terms of “(un)doing kinship”, but instead associated them with notions of punishment and unfulfilled expectations. From a broader perspective, the final rift between parents and adult children was seen as the culmination of a parent-child relationship disrupted by unresolved issues from the past. Familial estrangement is a multifaceted process and requires nuanced exploration from a lifespan perspective. Taking a closer look at adult children’s interpretations and contextualization of inheritance disputes within their family histories provides insights into parent-child dynamics marked by ambivalence and the expectations attached to close kin relations.