祭祀公業最初是為祭祀祖先而設，其所有的土地或財產，一直與設立人的一般遺產分離而作為祀產，並非依繼承法的規定由繼承人繼承。日據時期日本法院將祭祀公業視為習慣法上法人，最高法院三十九年台上字第三六四號判例否定其法人資格，將舊習慣法上的祭祀公業，轉換為祀產在現行民法上的公同共有財產。《祭祀公業條例》的內容在整理地籍的主軸中，呈現出「去祭祀化」傾向。祭祀規範及決定祀產受益人的方式，目前頗有從政策上探究的必要。

An ancesral association was orginally established for the purpose of worshipping ancestors. The donated lands and properties were separated from the estate of the established. There were not inherited by the heirs. Japanese courts ruled that such association was a legal person established under customary law. The ROC Supreme Court ruled in its Judgment No. Tai-shang 364 of 1950 to the opposite that it was only a combination of donted lands and property which shall be disposed of and manged for the benefits of the worshipping offsprings. The provisions in Act on Ancestral Worship Association implies that worship is no more in the center of such associations. It is argued that both the norm on ancestral worship and the rule for deciding the beneficiaries to such ancestral properties shall be adjusted and modernized.