heir presumptive

n. pl. heirs presumptive An heir who stands to inherit the estate, title, or office of an intestate ancestor, but whose claim can be defeated if a relative who is closer to the ancestor is born prior to the ancestor's death.

heir presumptive

n (Law) property law a person who expects to succeed to an estate but whose right may be defeated by the birth of one nearer in blood to the ancestor. Compare heir apparent

heir′ presump′tive

n., pl. heirs presumptive. a person who is expected to be the heir but whose expectations may be canceled by the birth of a nearer heir. [1620–30]

Thesaurus

Noun

heir presumptive - a person who expects to inherit but whose right can be defeated by the birth of a nearer relativeheir, heritor, inheritor - a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of anotherheir apparent - an heir whose right to an inheritance cannot be defeated if that person outlives the ancestor

heir presumptive

a person who expects to succeed to an estate but whose right may be defeated by the birth of one nearer in blood to the ancestor.

HEIR PRESUMPTIVE. A presumptive heir is one who, in the present circumstances, would be entitled to the inheritance, but whose rights may be defeated by the contingency of some nearer heir being born. 2 B1 Com. 208. In Louisiana, the presumptive heir is he who is the nearest relation of the deceased, capable of inheriting. This quality is given to him before the decease of the person from whom he is to inherit, as well as after the opening of the succession, until he has accepted or renounced it. Civ. Code of Lo. art. 876.

heir presumptive