heir-at-law
Intestate estate recipient
An heir-at-law is a person legally entitled to inherit property from someone who dies without a valid will.
The term distinguishes those with inheritance rights under statute from heirs named in a will.
In legal contexts, heirs-at-law typically follow a hierarchy: spouse, children, parents, siblings, then more distant relatives.
The court determined that as heir-at-law, she would receive the entire estate.
Having made no will
- probateWill validation proceedings
- estateProperty and grounds
- decedentLegal term for deceased
- successionFollowing in order
next of kin · administrator · beneficiary · escheat · probate court · guardianship · distribution · vesting
Faculty of deliberate choice
- testamentWritten proof or legacy
- testateHaving left a will
- intestateHaving made no will
- codicilWill modification document
testator · bequeath · devise · bequest · legatee · executor · devisee · residuary
Inherited estate or legacy
- estateProperty and grounds
- legacyWhat's passed down
- birthrightEntitlement from origin
- entailmentLogical necessity from premises
heirship · primogeniture · succession · share · portion · ancestral property
intestate
Having made no will
succession · next of kin · administrator · beneficiary · escheat · probate court · guardianship · distribution · vesting · intestacy
will
Faculty of deliberate choice
codicil · testator · bequeath · devise · bequest · legatee · executor · devisee · residuary · disinherit
patrimony
Inherited estate or legacy
- estateProperty and grounds
- legacyWhat's passed down
- birthrightEntitlement from origin
entailment · heirship · primogeniture · succession · share · portion · ancestral property
bloodline
Ancestry through generations
- descendantPerson from earlier generations
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- consanguinityRelatedness through shared ancestry
kin · ancestry · progeny · offspring · family · relative · genealogy · forebears · parentage · next of kin