Throughout history, women were rarely considered heirs. Inequalities rooted in patriarchal kinship systems, characterized by patrilocal marriage and patrilineal inheritance, systematically exclude women from receiving resources and support from natal families. To examine how women and their families navigate these institutional and cultural barriers and when women can be treated as heirs, I conduct original surveys and field research in China. I demonstrate that in the Chinese context, where surname inheritance is closely tied to wealth inheritance, declining fertility, coupled with economic and cultural shifts, has spurred growing public support for assigning maternal surnames to children. I further show that this renegotiation of patrilineal practices surrounding surnames and lineage enables Chinese women to maintain closer bonds and secure greater financial, childcare, and housework support from natal families. These findings identify surname succession as an institutional mechanism linking symbolic lineage membership to material resource allocation and show when private-domain inequalities in wealth and intergenerational support can be reduced.