In an attempt to answer this ill be simple. Anything that can be lost, stolen, or killed, is not guaranteed to be passed along. The extra perks not related to the game ie: wallpaper, forum badge, and those things of course are yours forever. The sparks of life will allow you to continue your life following the Heir rules that are in place. The extra souls are like extra character slots in other games. I would suggest a through read of the Developer Journals.