HEINECCIU8 



HEIR 



Ack.-rloH (1854), WalliH (1856), Bowring (1850), Lord 

 l.yttoii. sir Theodore Martin (187<J), J. (Jeikie (l&fl), 

 Hud others. There are translation!* of parts uf the prone 

 work* by Ix.lan.1 ( isr,5), stern (187:1), Sn.l k 'ras (1M2), 

 St<.rr( 1887), Havdock Kllis ( 1SS8), R. M'Olintook ( 1890), 

 tic. The adinirablo Wtt. Wi*tin, it ml 1'atho*, extract* 

 from Heine's prose, translated b> Unodgrau ( 1879 ; 2ded. 

 may also be consulted. 



llrinrrriiis. JOHANN GOTTLIEB, R jurist of 

 Germany, IMH-II lltli SeptemU'r 1(>8I at Kisenl>erg, 

 \\.>- professor of Philosophy at Halle from I , !.'{, ami 

 from 1720 professor of Law. In the latter capacity 

 In- went in IT'J.'J to Franeker, and in 1727 to I< rank- 

 foil on-tin- ( >dfi- ; hut in I T.'W returned, as professor 

 of Law and Philosophy, to Halle, where he died 31st 

 August 1741. Hemeccius belonged to the school 

 of those who treat law in dependence upon philo- 

 sophical principle^. His chief works were Antiqui- 

 tutiiui llniiKuii'i-iiiii Jvritprudeittia/m lUnstraiitniiii 

 >''".'/'" (171S); Histuria Juris Civilis Romani 

 (JT.'WJ; Elementa Juris Gennanici (1735); and 

 Kli-iitt-ntn Juris Xntuni' et Gentium (1737; Eng. 

 tnuis. 1763). His Opera Omnia (9 vols. ) were 

 edited by his son in 1771. Heineccius's brother, 

 .liiii\\\ Mii'ii \KI.IS HKINKCCUJS (1674-1722), was 

 a celebrate*! pulpit orator in Halle, and the first 

 who studied seals scientifically. On this latter 

 subject he wrote De Veteribus Gennanorum alia- 

 rumfjitr .\nfitiH H/II Sigillis (1709). 



Hcinsius. ANTHONY, Dutch statesman, born at 

 Delft, 22d Decemlrer 1641, studied law at Leyden, 

 in Hi88 liecame CJrand Pensionary of Holland, and 

 -as the close friend of William III. (of England) 

 guided Dutch politics till his death, 30th August 

 1720. 



HeinsillS, DANIEL, a Dutch classical scholar, 

 was horn at Ghent, 9th June 1580; was educated 

 at Franeker and Leyden (becoming the favourite 



Sipil of Scaliger), and became professor at Leyden. 

 e died 25th February 1655. He edited many 

 Latin classics, and published Latin poems and 

 orations of his own. His son, Nicolaus ( 1620-81 ), 

 obtained distinction both as a diplomatic agent 

 and as a classical scholar. 



Heir. In primitive systems of law the heir is 

 the person who performs the sacred rites on the 

 death of his ancestor, and to whom, as repre- 

 senting his ancestor, the property of the deceased 

 is transferred. There are traces of this primi- 

 tive conception in the history of Roman law. 

 The later Roman law regards the heir as an 

 universal successor, on whom all the rights 

 and liabilities of the ancestor devolve. An heir 

 might l>e named by will ; in case of intestacy, the 

 law pointed out the line of succession ; in some 

 ca>cs equity gave possession to a person who was 

 permitted by a fiction to call himself heir, though 

 not legally entitled to inherit. The liabilities of 

 an heir were restricted by rules which enabled him 

 to separate his own estate from that of the de- 

 ceased ; after Justinian's time this was done by 

 ' making an inventory ; ' and this ' benefit of in- 

 ventory ' is a feature of modern codes founded 

 on the civil law. It is to he observed that the 

 1 Ionian heir united in himself the rights of the heir, 

 executor, and devisee of English law. 



In English law the heir is not the universal suc- 

 cessor, but the person who succeeds to the real 

 property of a deceased person not disposed of by 

 will. He is bound by covenants, &c. which have 

 l>een made binding on the land ; the property which 

 descends to him has been made assets for payment 

 of debt generally : but if the personal estate lie suffi- 

 cient, the executor is the person by whom debts 

 should l>e paid. The heir is ascertained at the 

 moment of ueath ; thus it is not technically correct 

 to speak of the eldest son of a living person as his 

 248 



heir ; the win is heir-uttjutrent i.e. it bt evident that 

 he will be the heir if he survive*. If a father or 

 brother in nearest in Miccewdon to a living |M-rxin, 

 we call him heir-fre*umjttive ; he will be tne heir if 

 he survives, and if no nearer heir i- bom. An heir 

 must be nought among persons related by consan- 

 guinity to the deceased, males being preferred. Of 

 males in the same degree, the eldext i* Hole heir ; 

 females in the name degree succeed as co-heiraMi 

 or coparceners. By the Inheritance Act of 1833 it 

 is directed that descent fa to be traced from the la - 1 



Iiurchaser i.e. the last person who arquiml the 

 and otherwise than by descent. Formerly an 

 estate could not ascend from son to father ; but the 

 act places the father next in succession after chil- 

 dren and other descendant*. For a tabular view of 

 the order of succession, see Williams, On Real 

 Property, or Paterson's Compendium of Enalish 

 ana Scotch Law. The heirtt- general are the heirs 

 ascertained according to the foregoing rules, an 

 distinguished from the restricted class (heirs of 

 the body, heirs-male, heirs-female, &c.) pointed out 

 by the terms of an entail. Where no heir can be 

 found, the land is escheated to the feudal superior 

 to whom it is held i.e. usually to the crown. 

 When a person dies intestate, his real estate vests 

 at once' in the heir ; the heir Incomes seised in law 

 without entry on the estate or other formality. 

 The rule which permits an heir to shift the liability 

 for debts to the personal estate was formerly applied 

 even to mortgages ; but Locke King's Act, passed 

 in 1854, makes a mortgage debt a charge on the 

 land, unless a contrary intention is expressed. 



The law of succession in Ireland is the same as 

 in England. 



In Scotch law the term heir is less strictly defined 

 than in English law. It is used to include persons 

 who succeed to movables. It also includes persons 

 who take, not by descent, but by gift ; thus, for 

 example, ' heirs of destination ' or ' heirs of pro- 

 vision ' would be described as devisees or donees in 

 English law. ' Heir-apparent,' in Scots law, means 

 an heir who has not made up his titles, the heir- 

 apparent of English law being included under the 

 name of heir-presumptive ; but since the Convey- 

 ancing (Scotland) Act of 1874 the inheritance vests 

 on the death of the owner, and the heir is not re- 

 quired to make up titles. By the same act it is 

 provided that an heir shall not be liable for the 

 debts of his ancestor beyond the value of the estate. 

 When heritable property has not l>een settled or 

 disposed of by the owner, the heir of line is 

 sought among the legitimate kin of the deceased. 

 As in England, males are preferred ; of males in the 

 same degree, the eldest is sole heir ; females inherit 

 together as ' heirs-portioners. ' But in Scotch, as 

 compared with English law, certain points of differ- 

 ence are to be observed. ( 1 ) After descendants are 

 exhausted, it is not the father, but the next 

 younger brother who is next in succession ; then tin- 

 next younger again, and so on to the youngest 

 brother, after whom and his descendants comes the 

 next elder brother, and so on up to the eldest brother. 

 Formerly 'fee of conquest 'i.e. land purchased hy 

 the deceased went to the next elder brother, and 

 so on, in preference to the next younger ; but the 

 distinction l>etween conquest and heritage was 

 abolished in 1874. (2) The mother never succeeds 

 in Scotland, nor any relatives who trace through 

 her, except brothers" and sisters german. ( 3 ) Per- 

 sons born illegitimate, but rendered legitimate hy 

 the subsequent marriage of their parents, are per- 

 mitted to succeed. See the comparative tubular 

 view in Paterson's Comjtfniliiun. 



In England the term ' hereditaments ' is used to 

 denote those parts of a man's property which will, 

 if not disposed of, descend to the heir. In Scotland 

 heritable property includes leaseholds, which in 



