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heir /'ar/ n: one who inherits or is entitled to succeed to the possession of property after the death of its owner: asa: one who by operation of law inherits the property and esp. the real property of a person who dies without leaving a valid will— used in jurisdictions whose law is based on English common law – called also heir at law, heir general, legal heir; compare issueb in the civil law of Louisiana: one who succeeds to the estate of a person by will or esp. by operation of law see also intestacy, unworthy compare ancestor, devisee, legatee, next of kin, successorapparent heir: heir apparent in this entrybeneficiary heir in the civil law of Louisiana: an heir who exercises the benefit of inventory which limits the amount of his or her liability for the decedent's debtsbod·i·ly heir: heir of the body in this entryforced heir: an heir who cannot be disinherited except for causes recognized by law; esp in the civil law of Louisiana: an heir who because of youth or mental or physical infirmity cannot care for himself or herself and who cannot be deprived of his or her lawful portion of the decedent's estate by disinherison without just cause see also legitimeheir ab in·tes·ta·to /-ˌab-ˌin-tes-'tā-tō, -ˌäb-ˌin-tes-'tä-tō/ pl heirs ab intestato in the civil law of Louisiana: an heir that takes only by operation of the laws governing intestate successionheir apparent, pl, heirs apparent: an heir whose right to an inheritance cannot be voided or undone except by exclusion under a valid will if he or she survives the ancestor – called also apparent heir; compare heir presumptive in this entryheir at law: heir(a)heir general, pl, heirs general: heir(a)heir in tail: an heir to a fee-tail estate – called also heir of entail;heir of the body: an heir who is a lineal descendant esp. as contrasted with a collateral descendant – called also bodily heir;heir presumptive, pl, heirs presumptive: an heir whose right to inherit may be defeated by the birth of a nearer relative or by exclusion under a valid will – called also presumptive heir; compare heir apparent in this entryinstituted heir in the civil law of Louisiana: an heir who is named in the will but whose legacy will fall to a substitute legatee under a vulgar substitution in the event that he or she refuses the legacy or dies before the testator – called also instituted legatee;irregular heir in the civil law of Louisiana: an heir who inherits a right of action to the estate as distinguished from seisin◇ This class of heirs was eliminated as of January 1, 1982. Formerly, a decedent's illegitimate children and spouse were considered irregular heirs.legal heir: heir(a); specif in the civil law of Louisiana: an heir who receives seisin immediately after the death of the intestate by operation of law compare irregular heir in this entry◇ Prior to 1982 the Louisiana Civil Code distinguished between legal and irregular heirs who were required to go through an additional procedure in order to receive possession of the property. This division of heirs was eliminated in the 1981 revision of the Civil Code.natural heir: an heir (as a child) whose status as an heir arises from esp. close blood relationship as distinguished from one (as the state) whose status arises by operation of statutepresumptive heir: heir presumptive in this entrypretermitted heir: a descendant of a testator who would be an heir under the laws of intestacy but who is not named to take under the will◇ Most states have statutes requiring a share of the estate to go to a pretermitted heir on the assumption that the omission was unintentional.right heir1: an heir by blood2: the particular heir granted or devised an estate tail as distinguished from the heirs in generaltestamentary heir in the civil law of Louisiana: an heir who inherits under a willheir·less adjheir·ship n
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
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I
noun
acceptor, after-comer, after-generations, allottee, bénéficiaire, beneficiary, consignee, descendant, devisee, donee, inheritor, inheritrix, legatee, one who inherits, parcener, payee, possessor of descent, posterity, receiver, recipient, scion, successor, survivor, transferee
associated concepts: adopted heir, aggrieved heir, bodily heir, coheir, collateral heir, distributee, eligible heir, expectant heir, heir apparent, heirs at law, heirs in fee simple, illegitimate heir, immediate heir, intestate succession, issue, legal heir, legitimate heir, lineal heir, living heir, natural heir, natural offspring, next of kin, presumptive heir, pretermitted heir, Rule in Shelley's Case, surviving heir, unknown heir
foreign phrases:
- Haeres est aut fure proprletatls aut fure representationls. — A person is an heir either by right of property or by right of representation.- Haeredum appellatione venlunt haeredes haeredum in infinitum. — Under the name heirs come the heirs of heirs without limit- Cohaeredes una persona censentur, propter unttatem furis quod habent. — Coheirs are regarded as one person because they own under unity of right- In haeredes non solent transire actiones quae poenales ex maleficio sunt. — Actions which are penal and which arise out of anything of a criminal nature do not pass to the heirs.- Posthumus pro nato habetur. — A posthumous child is regarded as born before the death of the parent- Nemo est haeres vtventls. — No one can be the heir of a living person- Haeres minor uno et viginti annis non respondebit, nisi in casu dotis. — A minor heir under twenty-one years of age is not answerable, except in the matter of dower- Filius est nomen naturae, sed haeres nomen furis. — Son is the natural name, but heir is a name of law- Nemo potest esse dominus et haeres. — No one can be both owner and heir- Haeres est pars antecessors. — An heir is a part of his ancestorII index beneficiary, descendant, devisee, offspring, recipient, transferee
Burton's Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006
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n.A person legally entitled to inherit an estate if its owner dies without a will.
The Essential Law Dictionary. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008.
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Someone who has a right, under state law, to inherit adeceased person's property (which means the closest family members). The term is often used in a broader sense, to include anyone who receives property from the estate of a deceased person.Category: Wills, Trusts & Estates → Estates, Executors & Probate CourtCategory: Wills, Trusts & Estates → Wills
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
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n. Colloquially used to refer to anyone who inherits under a will or otherwise.@ collateral heirA descendant through an indirect line, such as the issue of a sibling or cousin.See also issue.@ heirs and assignsArchaic A phrase formerly necessary for the creation of a fee simple.@ lineal heirAn heir who is above or below the decedent in the direct line of descent, such as a parent or child.=>> heir.@
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
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An individual who receives an interest in, or ownership of, land, tenements, or hereditaments from an ancestor who has died intestate, through the laws of descent and distribution. At common law, an heir was the individual appointed by law to succeed to the estate of an ancestor who died without a will. It is commonly used today in reference to any individual who succeeds to property, either by will or law.
Dictionary from West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.
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An individual who receives an interest in, or ownership of, land, tenements, or hereditaments from an ancestor who has died intestate, through the laws of descent and distribution. At common law, an heir was the individual appointed by law to succeed to the estate of an ancestor who died without a will. It is commonly used today in reference to any individual who succeeds to property, either by will or law.
Short Dictionary of (mostly American) Legal Terms and Abbreviations.
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n.one who acquires property upon the death of another, based on the rules of descent and distribution, namely, being the child, descendant or other closest relative of the dear departed. It also has come to mean anyone who "takes" (receives something) by the terms of the will. An heir cannot be determined until the moment of death of the person leaving the property, since a supposed beneficiary (heir apparent) might die first. A presumptive heir is someone who would receive benefits unless a child was later born to the current owner of the property the presumptive heir hopes to get someday. A legally adopted child gains the chance to be an heir upon adoption as if he/she were the natural child of the adoptive parent or parents and is called an adoptive heir. A collateral heir is a relative who is not a direct descendant, but a brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, nephew, niece or a parent. It is noteworthy that a spouse is not an heir unless specifically mentioned in the will. He/She may, however, receive an inheritance through marital property or community property laws. A child not mentioned in a will can claim to be a pretermitted heir, i.e. inadvertently or accidentally omitted from the will, and can claim he/she would (should) have received as an heir.See also: descent and distribution, heir apparent, heirs of the body, pretermitted heir, succession, will
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.
