Legal Definition and Related Resources of Heirs Of The Body

The expression heirs of the body is a word not of purchase but of limitation . This has been settled law since Shelley’s Case (76 E.R. 206) and it may be stated as follows: Whenever an estate of freehold is limited to a person , and the same instrument contains a limitation, either mediate or immediate , to his heirs and to the heirs of his body, the word heirs is a word of limitation and the ancestor takes the whole estate comprised in this term. Thus, if the limitation be to the heirs of his body, he takes a fee tail; if to his heirs general , a fee simple . See Peacock v II McCluskey, 296 III. 87, 126 N.E. 561. The rule is inapplicable in many jurisdictions, but where it is applicable, it has been considered to be a rule of property , not of construction, and to operate to defeat the intent of grantor or testator . See Vogt v Graff; 222 U.S. 404, 32 S.Ct. 134, 56 L.Ed. 249.

Lineal descendants. 37 Ala. 178. “The term ‘heir of the body* is a wellestablished technical term, with which the words ‘children’ or ‘issue’ or ‘lawful issue’ are not synonymous.” 115 Mass. 276. Like all similar expressions, its technical sense is frequently subordinated to the evident intent. Thus it has been construed as synonymous with “children.” 147 Ind. 95; 8 Ga. 887.

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Heirs Of The Body in Historical Law

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This definition of Heirs Of The Body is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

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English Legal System: Heirs of The Body

In the context of the English law, A Dictionary of Law provides the following legal concept of Heirs of The Body : Lineal descendants who were entitled to inherit freehold land under the rules applying on intestacy before the Administration of Estates Act 1925. A conveyance of land “to A and the heirs of his body” creates an *entailed interest that devolves to descendants only, according to the old rules. Thus (1) males are first in priority and the principle of primogeniture applies, e.g. an older son is preferred to a younger; (2) in the absence of male heirs, females in equal degree share the land equally; and (3) lineal descendants of an heir represent him, thus the son of an older son who dies will inherit to the exclusion of a younger son.