Also known as: nephews
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The son of a person's brother or sister. In donative transfers the term designates only that generation of relatives and excludes children or more remote descendants of any such nephew.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Testator Neil Nair's will left the residue to my nephews. Neil's brother had two sons and one of those sons had a child of his own. The probate court awarded equal shares only to the two sons because the class term nephews reaches only the children of Neil's siblings.
Nate Ndlovu stood beside his uncle when a negligent driver struck him. Nate suffered severe emotional distress from witnessing the accident. Under the zone-of-danger rule he recovered damages because his relationship as nephew satisfied the close-relative requirement.
Lord Fairfax devised the Northern Neck to his nephew Thomas Bryan Martin. After the devise the nephew remained a Virginia citizen. The Supreme Court recognized the nephew's title because the will validly transferred the fee to him as a named devisee.
East Cleveland's housing code defined family to exclude a homeowner's nephew. The homeowner sought to keep the nephew in the home. The Court held the ordinance unconstitutional because it intruded on the choice of relatives who may live together.
Patrick Pumpkin Seed, nephew of a deceased allottee, claimed an interest in fractionated Indian land. Federal restrictions barred descent of the interest. The Court held the restrictions effected a taking because they prevented the nephew from receiving the property by devise or descent.
A testatrix left property to her nephews on condition they marry within the Protestant faith. One nephew married outside the faith. The court invalidated the condition as contrary to public policy and allowed the nephew to take the gift free of the restriction.
No. The term reaches only the children of the testator's brothers and sisters. Children of those nephews are excluded unless the will expressly states a contrary intention.
Supporting sources
A class gift arises when the will uses the group term nephews without naming specific individuals and the class remains open to future change in membership. Named individuals without a relational label produce fixed individual gifts instead.
Supporting sources
The rule limits the class to the children of the testator's siblings. Descendants of those nieces and nephews receive nothing unless additional language shows the testator intended to include them.
Supporting sources
…If "family" included all of the householder's grandchildren there would doubtless be the hard case of an orphaned niece or nephew. If, as the appellant suggests, a "family" must include all blood relatives, what of longtime friends? The point is that any definition would produce hardships in some cases without…