noun
( plural heirs at law )
1. Eng common law : an heir in whom an intestate's real property as distinguished from his personal estate is vested by operation of law and not by will or by curtesy or by right of dower — called also legal heir ; compare devisee , legatee
2. usually heir-at-law Scots law : an heir in whom by operation of the law of intestate succession the heritable estate and part or all of the movables of a decedent are vested — called also heir of line, heir whatsoever, legal heir