Heir (heres)
An heir was a universal successor upon death according to civil law. He succeeded to the whole legal position of the deceased and not only to the late person’s individual rights of ownership (Pomponius, D.
29.2.37). The deceased could appoint several heirs, but only as to particular fractions or shares of the inheritance: e.g., “Be Titius heir to one third and Caius to two thirds.” If the deceased did not specify the share of each heir, fractions were presumed to be equal. The heir inherited the rights and property of the deceased but also assumed all transmissible debts. This liability of the heir was not limited to the value of the inherited property; his liability, in principle, went beyond the estate of the deceased person (ultra vires hereditatis), but it was at some point and under some circumstances restricted (intra vires hereditatis). As a son cannot stop being a son, an heir could not be appointed for a limited period of time. This was the meaning of the rule: “Once an heir, always an heir” (semel heres, semper heres). This rule implied that the heir could neither make another person heir in his place nor appoint successive heirs, thus creating a successive interest in the inheritance. The provision “Be my heir my wife Titia and after her death my children” was invalid under Roman law. Usufruct and hereditary trust (fideicommissum hereditatis) were the legal institutions used to create outcomes of this sort.
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