Heir

Plain English

An heir is someone who is legally entitled to receive part of a person's estate when that person dies without a will or when the will doesn't cover everything. The law defines who counts as an heir based on family relationships—typically spouses, children, parents, and siblings in a specific order of priority. Heirs are different from beneficiaries named in a will; heirs inherit by operation of law (the default rules), while beneficiaries inherit because someone specifically named them. Each state has its own rules about who qualifies as an heir and in what order they inherit.

Example

Tom dies without a will. Under his state's intestacy laws, his heirs are his surviving spouse and two adult children. They inherit his estate equally according to the state's default distribution rules, even though Tom never wrote down who he wanted to receive his property.

Used in a sentence

“As the deceased's only child, Maria was the primary heir to her father's estate.”

Related terms