Although it has long been recognized that inheritance affects overall wealth dispersion, and is probably a source of its positive skewness as well, few studies seem to have been undertaken which attempt to trace the manner of this influence. Throughout this paper, the term family refers to the nuclear family. Analyzed along family lines, wealth is characterized by dispersion within families and by dispersion between families. The primary purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of inheritance to within family inequality, although its between family aspect is also more briefly discussed.