Inheritance

In The Sims 2, family members and best friends inherit money on the death of a Sim. There is no inheritance in The Sims or The Sims 3, although Sims can die.

Inheritance allows family members and best friends of a deceased Sim to receive money from that Sim, and get a memory of having inherited it. This is unrelated to the net worth of the deceased, or the amount of family funds they had, so it's more like a death benefit then an actual inheritance.

How much a Sim will inherit depends on three things; the deceased Sim's aspiration level at death, the type of relationship the Sim had with the deceased, and the Sim's lifetime relationship with the deceased. A Sim who dies in platinum or gold aspiration will leave behind more than one who dies in green. All other things being equal, a spouse will get more than a child, who will get more than a grandchild, who will get more than a friend. Finally, the lifetime relationship determines what percentage of the possible bequest the Sim will get.

Of course, with Seasons or later, Sims can transfer items to others by giving them as gifts, and this can be an indirect way to transfer funds. As long as the inventory feature is present, this can also be done by using cheats to make a Sim selectable and having that Sim put items into inventory. While this can be used as a form of inheritance, it's at the discretion of the player, and is separate from the bequests that are generated by the game.

Trivia

 * Even if a Sim is in the same household as the deceased Sim, as would usually be the case with spouses, it's still possible to get an inheritance.