Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-27392440-20160221191403

I've been wondering since the sword she uses and its power are passed down through her family if it could even be truly counted as a zanpakuto as I thought zanpakuto and their powers are defined by their shinigami's soul and not something that could simply be inherited, so can anyone explain this to me? This would technically also mean she is like Ichigo in that she never used or needed an asauchi right? 