Stuck at work the other day, I was reading some weeks old newspapers (Dean was still the frontrunner) where they described Kerry’s wife as the “heiress” to the Heinz fortune. Isn’t she the widow of the late Senator Heinz? I thought that “heiress,” at least in common usuage not legal terms, meant a direct lineal descent. Forgive me, I am not up on heiresses, but Patty Hearst or (my apologies to all) Paris Hilton would be considered “heiresses.” Was Jackie Kennedy the “heiress” of JFK or Aristotle Onassis? Is Mrs. Kerry related otherwise to the Heinz family? A cousin or something?
“Heir” is a legal word that describes someone who gets something in a will. If I recall correctly, one cannot be named an heir/ess until the decedent has actually died, hence the use of the term “heir apparent”, a term that drives trust & estates professors batty.
The use of the term in wrt Heinz Kerry is a class label and nothing more.
cj
Her husband, Senator H. John Heinz III, did die. http://www.library.cmu.edu/Research/Archives/Heinz/HJH_Bio.html#death
I served as an usher at the Pittsburgh funeral for Senator Heinz.
John Heinz was a great man, and a dedicated public servant. It was very sad to see him go, and very tragic, too, that two children also died in the crash.