descendant

A descendant is a person born in a direct biological line.  For example, a person's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are their descendants. In legal writing, the term "descendant" can have multiple meanings, including those who have been adopted as well as those who are descendants through lineal consanguinity. A person's stepchildren or the stepchildren of the person's descendants are not regarded as "descendants."

[Last reviewed in August of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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