A lineal or direct descendant, in legal usage, is a blood
relative in a person's direct line of
descent – the
children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of
estate by
inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
by parent from grandparent and by child from parent, whereas collateral descent refers to the acquisition of estate or real property by inheritance by sibling from sibling, and cousin from cousin.
Adopted children, for whom
adoption statutes create the same rights of heirship as
children of the body, come within the meaning of the term "lineal descendants," as used in a statute providing for the non-lapse of a
devise where the devisee predeceases the
testator
A testator () is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. ...
but leaves lineal descendants.
Among some
Native American tribes in the United States, tribal enrollment can be determined by lineal descent, as opposed to a minimum
blood quantum. Lineal descent means that anyone directly descended from original tribal enrollees could be eligible for tribal enrollment, regardless of how much native blood they have.
The
antonym of ''descendant'' is ''
antecedent''.
Collateral descendant
A collateral or indirect descendant is a term for a relative descended from a person's
sibling or the sibling of an
ancestor, and thus a
niece,
nephew, or younger
cousin.
See also
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References
External links
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Kinship and descent
Legal terminology
Native American history
Property law
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