What is "pretermitted heir"

n. (context legal English) A person who would likely stand to inherit under a will, except that the testator did not know of the party or of the relationship at the time the will was written.

A pretermitted heir is a term used in the law of property to describe a person who would likely stand to inherit under a will, except that the testator (the person who wrote the will) did not know, or did not know of, the party at the time the will was written. The most common category of pretermitted heir is the pretermitted child, born after the execution of the will.