heirs of the body

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heirs of the body

n. descendants of one's bloodline, such as children or grandchildren until such time as there are no direct descendants. If the bloodline runs out, the property will "revert" to the nearest relative traced back to the original owner. (See: heir, reversion)

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"Heirs of the Body" is the 21st in Carola Dunn's popular Daisy Dalrymple murder mysteries, set in England in the 1920s.

Carola Dunn - "Heirs of the Body" is the 21st in her popular Daisy Dalrymple murder mysteries, set in England in the 1920s, and "The Valley of the Shadow" (December 2012, her third Cornish murder mystery); 1 p.m.

Diverse group of writers off to the fair

To be sure, both marriage contracts and testaments do occasionally mention the body; in most cases, however, it is used in the phrase "heirs of his/her body." In the marriage contract between Simon den Grutere, of Ghent, and Mergriet, daughter of Jacop van Ravenscoet, for example, it is agreed that if Simon dies, leaving Margaret without legal heir of his body, then all that he has given to her can be given to her sister.(40) Wills in Douai routinely speak of heirs of the body. In November 1311, John Biaus, for example, left the remainder of his estate to his sons and daughters and to the children that he might have "of his own body by Marie de le Couture, his wife."(41) The will of Jakemon Painsmoullies uses similar language.(42) Curiously, women's wills do not employ such language.