héritier légal

OBS: héritier légal; héritier général : termes normalisés par le Comité de normalisation dans le cadre du Programme national de l'administration de la justice dans les deux langues officielles (PAJLO).

CONT: The feudal rules of succession applied to find the heir were based on the succession of males in preference to females, on primogeniture among males, and on representation, whereby a descendant of a pre-deceased heir, e.g. a grandson, took in preference to a collateral of the deceased, e.g. a brother. An heir general or heir at law is such an heir. [The ""Oxford Companion to Law,"" 1980, p. 559].
CONT: The reason why words of procreation were required was that ""heirs,"" extended to all the ""heirs general,"" including relatives other than descendants of the grantee, such as his brothers, uncles or cousins. An entail, however, was an interest which could pass only to lineal descendants of the original grantee (heirs special) and so ""heirs"" had to be restricted by the addition of words of procreation. [Megarry and Wade, p. 57].