Posted By markof at 09:29 AM - Mon Jan 22 2018
From down the rabbit hole, the DJ you linked, we learn that your actual heir is not selected before you die, when you die, your soul goes back to the Akashik records and you start the process of your reincarnation.
During that process you'll be able to see all the available characters, your potential heirs, any npc between the age of 15 and 52, of your family that is not already locked by an other player and for which you can afford the SP cost.
If none available, then you will not have the option to inherit your status and possessions. But all hope is not lost, if you have available family members but the problem is the SP cost, you can select them as partial heirs, you'll reincarnate into them but keep only part of your status and possessions, the part you can afford with your SP.
I believe there is a point of correction here, at least from my reading of it. From the DJ (see quote below) you can select who your heir will be prior to death (who gets your stuff):
"Let's say you're the King and you're killed, but you made your younger brother, a Duke, the heir to the kingdom. He's an NPC which you have the NPC code for. A few weeks go by and someone kills him as well, but before that happens, your nephew (the son of your previous character) reaches the age of maturity and so is now old enough to take over the Kingdom. So you've made him your heir, and now you take over as your nephew."
However, it doesn't mean that you automatically can select them upon your death. You also need the Story Points to do so. It would actually be rather silly to not be able to state who you inheritance (i.e. heir) is going to before you die.