arvingar

Arvingar is a term used in Swedish and other Nordic contexts to refer to heirs—individuals who stand to receive a portion of a deceased person’s estate. The concept encompasses both those who inherit through law (statutory heirs) and those named in a will (testamentary heirs). The precise rules depend on the jurisdiction, but common elements include identification of eligible recipients, the opening of probate, settlement of debts, and distribution of the remaining assets according to applicable law or the decedent’s instructions.

In many legal systems, the pool of arvingar and the size of their shares are determined by relatives' degree of kinship and marital status. Some jurisdictions provide protections for certain relatives, or for a surviving spouse or partner, that limit the decedent’s ability to disinherit them entirely. Others allow extensive freedom to dispose of assets through a will.

Historically, inheritance practices varied widely, ranging from primogeniture to equal division among descendants. Contemporary frameworks in many countries emphasize a combination of automatic rights for close relatives and autonomy for the individual through a testament.

Etymology: arvingar derives from arv, inheritance, with the plural suffix -ingar, and has long been used in legal and genealogical language to describe those who receive an inheritance.