Fantasy
Inherited magic is often treated as if blood has already settled the matter. It rarely has.
The interesting version is when the spell comes with paperwork, family quarrels, or a moral bill nobody wants to pay. A character can be the rightful heir and still be the worst possible person to hold the power. Or the only sensible one can refuse it outright, which is usually where the story starts to get livelier.
A gift that behaves like property is never just a gift. Fantasy does well when it remembers that.
The interesting version is when the spell comes with paperwork, family quarrels, or a moral bill nobody wants to pay. A character can be the rightful heir and still be the worst possible person to hold the power. Or the only sensible one can refuse it outright, which is usually where the story starts to get livelier.
A gift that behaves like property is never just a gift. Fantasy does well when it remembers that.
The awkward part is that the paperwork usually matters more than the magic. A sigil can be inherited, but so can debt, obligation, and a mess of local law. That gives the story somewhere sharper to go than “chosen by blood”. Power that needs witnesses, seals, and a clerk with a grudge is far more interesting than power that simply waits for the right surname.