Descendants are those who are the issue of an individual, such as children, grandchildren, and their children, to the remotest degree.
Descendants Law & Legal Definition. Descendants are those who are the issue of an individual, such as children, grandchildren, and their children, to the remotest degree. Descendants are those in a descending line of birth from an individual, rather than an ascending line, such as to the parents of the individual. Determining who a person's descendants are is commonly necessary to determine who is entitled to share in the estate of a person who dies without a will. State statutes of descent and distribution, which vary by state, provide for the surviving spouse and/or descendants to share in the estate of the deceased. n. a person who is in direct line to an ancestor, such as child, grandchild, great-grandchild and on forever. A lineal descendant is distinguished from a collateral descendant, which would be from the line of a brother, sister, aunt or uncle.  A lineal descendant is a direct descendant of a person. A person in direct line of blood relationship following downwards from an individual concerned, starting from his children, grand children and great grand children, are called lineal descendants of an individual. The following is an example of a state law governing intestate succession: Determining who a person's descendants are is commonly necessary to determine who is entitled to share in the estate of a person who dies without a will. State statutes of descent and distribution, which vary by state, provide for the surviving spouse and/or descendants to share in the estate of the deceased. Collateral and Lineal Descendants. Direct descendants, or lineal descendants, are the biological children and grandchildren of an ancestor. For example, you are a direct descendant of your mother, your grandmother, your great-grandmother, and on and on. Whether you're tracing the roots of your family tree or trying to determine descendent's of a family member for legal reasons, understanding the difference between lineal and collateral descendants is helpful. Remote Collaterals. A collateral heir is one who is not of the direct line of the deceased but comes from a collateral line, such as a brother, a sister, an uncle, an aunt, a nephew, a niece, or a cousin of the deceased. People are related collaterally when they have a common ancestor, such as a parent or grandparent. Representation is the principle of law by which the children, or their descendants, of an heir to an estate, who dies without leaving a will, have a collective interest in the intestate's share of the property. Taking by representation means taking per stirpes. Collateral descendants are not part of your direct line; they are relatives descended from a sibling of an ancestor -- such as uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews and cousins. References. Whether you're tracing the roots of your family tree or trying to determine descendent's of a family member for legal reasons, understanding the difference between lineal and collateral descendants is helpful. The scientific and legal meaning of descendant is all the persons who have descended from a common ancestor. In this context, a step-child would not be considered to be a descendant. However, for purposes of inheritance, a legally adopted child and their issue are considered descendants. A step-child in a blended family who has not been legally adopted is not considered an heir at law. A person's descendants are the children that he or she has. Siblings are not descendants. Of course, everyone has biological parents from whom they are descended, so in that s … ense everyone is a descendant of someone. But your sister is not your descendant. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent-the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. (March 2014). A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent-the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person.
http://definitions.uslegal.com/d/descendants/ http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1168 http://definitions.uslegal.com/d/descendants/ http://www.ehow.com/info_8204511_direct-descendants.html http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/descendants http://www.ehow.com/info_8204511_direct-descendants.html http://www.answers.com/Q/Is_a_step-child_considered_a_descendant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineal_descendant
who is considered a direct descendant