A co-heir; one of several people who inherit an estate or property together.
From co- (together) + inheritor. This legal term developed in Middle English from Old French coheritier, used in inheritance law to denote joint heirs.
In medieval England, when a nobleman had multiple daughters and no son, they all became 'coheritors'—which created amazing legal puzzles about who got which castle, leading to some of history's bloodiest feuds.
Latin masculine form; implies male heir as default. Related to coheir terminology with gendered assumptions embedded in Romance morphology.
Use gender-neutral 'coheir' or 'joint heir' in modern contexts. 'Coheritor' is archaic; avoid unless quoting legal history.
["coheir","joint heir","inheritor (gender-neutral)"]
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.