lineal descendant

Lineal descendants (also called issue) are the people who belong to any generational level below a given person. For example, someone would be a lineal descendant of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on. The term is used most commonly in the context of intestate succession, where courts prioritize a decedent’s spouse and lineal descendants when distributing an estate that lacks a will. Being a lineal descendant is also important in many other contexts involving ancestry, like claiming tribal membership. For instance, the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw accept proof that the prospective member is a lineal descendant of a tribal member for obtaining membership (see page 5 of the Tribes’ Tribal Code). 

Lineal descendants differ from the concepts of lineal ascendants and collateral descendants. Lineal ascendants are people who belong to any generational level above a given person (for example; someone’s parents, grandparents, etc.). In contrast, collateral descendants are people who share a common ancestor but do not descend directly with a given person (someone’s siblings, cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, and uncles). 

[Last reviewed in January of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team] 

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