She wrapped the old heir-loom in linen and placed it carefully in the cedar chest.

In several states, laughing heir statutes prevent distant relatives from inheriting estates when closer kin exist.

Under the laughing heir statute, the estate passed to the state because no close relatives survived.

The attorney explained how pretermitted heirs might contest the will if they were unintentionally omitted.

Under the village's old laws, the heirs by custom received the ancestral lands while the rest of the family divided movable property.

The will controversially disinherited the forced heirs, prompting several court challenges.

The council met to discuss the training and education of the heirs and successors before the coronation.

The estate was distributed among the heirs general according to the terms of the will.

The heirs presumptive gathered at the estate to discuss the late duke's will.

The laughing heirs gathered in the parlor, trading stories about the eccentric uncle who left them the estate.