haeredes sui et necessarii

/hariydiyz syuway et nesaseriyay/

In Roman law, own and necessary heirs; i.e., the lineal descendants of the estate-leaver. They were called "necessary" heirs, because it was the law that made them heirs, and not the choice of either the decedent or themselves. But since this was also true of slaves (when named "heirs" in the will) the former class was designated "sui et necessarii," by way of distinction, the word "sui" denoting that the necessity arose from their relationship to the decedent