Inherited funds can be a legitimate source of capital, but State Department guidance states that inheriting a business itself does not constitute an investment. Identify the actual assets received and any later qualifying commitment.
Separate receipt from investment
Document entitlement, distribution and investor control, then trace money or qualifying assets into the enterprise. If inherited property is sold, include the sale and proceeds record. Do not claim the full value of an inherited company as though the investor paid to acquire it.
The remaining nationality, control, substantiality and enterprise requirements still need evidence. Facts move most often in three places: entitlement, control and the amount actually committed. A will contested after the file was drafted can suspend entitlement entirely; an executor’s discretion exercised differently can change which asset arrives; and a partial distribution can leave the investor holding less than the enterprise was sized for.
Hypothetical example: An investor inheriting a share of a maple products processing operation plans to buy out a co-heir and direct the business alone, but the co-heir declines to sell, leaving an ownership interest received rather than an investment made, which is a different case from the one prepared. Reassess nationality, control, substantiality and marginality together whenever any of this shifts, because a change that looks purely financial frequently changes who develops and directs the enterprise.