Not automatically. An inherited business’s value is not equivalent to capital the applicant invested, and other inherited assets need support for any claimed qualifying contribution. The actual transaction and commitment determine the analysis.
Separate available wealth from enterprise spending
Record net funds received, amounts committed to the business and personal reserves. Distribution, valuation or sale expenses can affect available proceeds without becoming business investment by default. Keep current government application charges and professional preparation separate.
Neither a large inheritance nor a formal estate valuation guarantees that the E-2 substantial-investment requirement is met. Budgets drift when the estate does. Administration expenses, currency movement, unexpected tax advice and a longer holding period all reduce what reaches the enterprise, and the shortfall is usually noticed after commitments have been made.
Recalculate the committed figure whenever a distribution differs from the one modelled, and record what changed rather than adjusting the total silently. Hypothetical example: An applicant capitalising a farm-management software venture finds that probate expenses and a delayed asset sale leave materially less to commit than the business plan assumed, so either the plan is resized to what can genuinely be funded or further personal capital is committed and documented as such. Government application charges and professional fees belong on a separate line throughout; neither the size of an inheritance nor a revised valuation of the enterprise establishes that the substantiality requirement is met.