järeltulijate

Järeltulijad is an Estonian term meaning descendants or heirs. The base noun järeltulija denotes a person who is a descendant in a family line or an heir in a succession. The word appears in different grammatical cases; for example järeltulijad is the nominative plural, and järeltulijate is the genitive plural, used in phrases such as järeltulijate õigused (the rights of the descendants) or järeltulijate kohustused (the obligations of the heirs).

Usage and scope: The concept covers descendants in a legal sense and those named as beneficiaries in a will. In inheritance matters, järeltulijad may inherit from a deceased person’s estate either by statutory succession if there is no will, or by testamentary disposition if a will exists. The exact rights and shares depend on the applicable inheritance law and the familial relationships involved; close relatives are typically prioritized, with more distant relatives or, in some cases, the state, receiving only if closer heirs do not exist.

Legal framework: In Estonia, inheritance law sets out classes of heirs and their entitlements. The presence of a valid will can alter distribution, but statutory rules apply in the absence of a will. The term is used in legal documents and estate proceedings to refer to those who stand in the line of inheritance or who are genealogically descended from an ancestor.

In genealogy and history, järeltulijad is used to describe later generations in a family tree and to trace lineage and succession through time.