Heir Presumptive

An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person currently entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced (in legal terms, is "subject to divestiture") by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. When lowercased, "heir presumptive" can refer generally to someone who is currently entitled to inherit a title, position or possession, unless later displaced by an heir apparent or another heir presumptive born further up the line of succession. In both cases, the position is however subject to law and/or conventions that may alter who is entitled to be heir presumptive.

Depending on the rules of the monarchy the heir presumptive might be the daughter of a monarch (if males take priority over females and the monarch has no sons), or the senior member of a collateral line (if the monarch is childless); the birth of a legitimate child to the monarch will displace the former heir presumptive by a new heir apparent or heiress presumptive.

An heir can fail to inherit for other reasons than displacement, for example by death or incapacity of the heir, abolition of the title, or changes to the rules of inheritance.

For more detailed information, and a comparison between the positions of heir presumptive and heir apparent, see heir apparent.