Heir
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
LEGAL.
In civil law
A legal heir is one who is of the same blood as the deceased, and who takes the succession by force of law. This is different from a testamentary or conventional heir, who takes the succession in virtue of the disposition of man. See Civ. Code La. arts.
873, 875; Diet, de Jur. "Heritier Legitime."
There are three classes of legal heirs, to-wit, the children and other lawful descendants, the fathers and mothers and other lawful ascendants, and the collateral kindred. Civ. Code La. art.
883.