ARTICLE III: ON HEREDITARY SUCCESSION

Note. - Here it would have been necessary to treat only that hereditary succession which exists from TESTAMENT, since this alone can be referred to donation; but concerning that which is called LEGAL or FROM INTESTACY, it would have been necessary to treat in the Treatise ON RIGHT AND JUSTICE in that place where discourse is had concerning the various modes of acquiring dominion. But, since one is intimately connected with the other, and many things are common to each, it has pleased us to treat each in this place.

895. Notion. - Hereditary succession (hereditary succession) is a mode of acquiring, either from the disposition of law, or from the last will of the deceased (legitimate testament), the dominion of the goods and rights which the deceased had at the time of death. - There is no inheritance of a living man.

The very universality of goods and rights which are acquired through hereditary succession is called inheritance; the part of individual heirs: portion.

Division. - From the adduced description of hereditary succession there spontaneously flows its very well-known division into legal and testamentary.

Legal succession, which is also called succession from intestacy (succession by operation of law, or ab intestato), is that by which the goods and rights of the deceased are acquired from the disposition of law, without the cause of testament.

Testamentary succession (by testament or will) is that by which the goods and rights of the deceased are acquired from his last will, or legitimate testament.

896. Notion. - By the name of heirs (heirs), in our law, come those who from law or testament succeed to the goods and rights of the deceased by universal title, i.e. who from law or testament acquire either the whole inheritance or at least some quota of the inheritance, say a half, a third part. But those who from testament succeed to the goods and rights of the deceased by particular title, i.e. who from testament acquire only some determined things, for example, a house, a field, all movable goods, all immovable goods, the usufruct of all or certain goods; these are not called heirs, but legatees (legatees). -

897. Division. - Heirs are usually distinguished:

a) Into legal heirs or heirs from intestacy (heirs by operation of law, or at law, or right heirs, or lawful heirs or by descent or ab intestato, or simply heirs), who are called to the inheritance from law; and testamentary or instituted heirs (heirs by will), who are called to the inheritance from the last will of the deceased himself, declared through a legitimate testament.

b) Into necessary heirs, who cannot be passed over by the testator as to a certain part of the goods, determined by Law (which they call the legitimate portion or reserved portion); and voluntary heirs, who can be passed over or instituted by the testator at pleasure.

These things having been premised, now we shall strive to present summarily those things which ought not to be unknown to Moral Theologians concerning hereditary succession, by discussing:

In the first place, hereditary succession in general, i.e. those dispositions of Law which are common to every succession, whether legal or testamentary; yet it must always be carefully distinguished between heir and legatee; for the things which will be said concerning heirs cannot of themselves be applied to legatees.

In the second place, legal succession, i.e. those dispositions of Law which are proper to legal heirs.

In the third place, testamentary succession, i.e. those dispositions of Law which pertain to instituted heirs and to legatees.