Relative
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence · Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
See Relation. Under a bequest to " relatives," the next of kin, according to the statute of distributions, are entitled to take, there being nothing in the will to the contrary.
Drew v. Wakefield, 54 Me. 291.
A bequest to relatives, generally, will be construed as referring to persons connected by blood, and not by marriage. Ordinarily, the statute of distributions may be consulted to show who these are; but, in a case where the testator described and specified certain of his " nearest " relatives, the description was applied independently of the statute.
Ennis v. Pentz, 3 Bradf. 382.