Clinical judgment and sometimes ethical judgment enter into these decisions where there are often no right or wrong answers and where there are no textbooks or RCTs that tell us what to do.
predecessor - something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone. harbinger, herald, forerunner, precursor. indicant, indication - something that serves to indicate or suggest; an indication of foul play; indications of strain; symptoms are the prime indicants of disease.
Definition of succession. 1  1a : the order in which or the conditions under which one person after another succeeds to a property, dignity, title, or throneb : the right of a person or line to succeedc : the line having such a right.