Also known as: lineal · lineals · lineal descendant · lineal heir
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A direct blood relative descending from a designated ancestor in the line of inheritance.
Liam Larson conveyed waterfront land to his nephew and the nephew's heirs. Upon the nephew's death without a will, the land passed to the nephew's daughter rather than to a distant cousin. The conveyance created an estate inheritable by lineal heirs under the applicable rule.
Layla Lane died leaving genetic material that later produced a child recognized under state law. The child claimed an intestate share as a lineal descendant. The court determined that the posthumously conceived child counted among the lineal heirs entitled to take.
In January 1993, Lauren Woodward and her husband Warren Woodward, who had been married for approximately three and one-half years and remained childless, learned that Warren had leukemia. The couple arranged for a quantity of Warren's semen to be medically withdrawn and preserved through a process known as sperm banking before he began treatment. Warren underwent an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant and died in October 1993, after which Lauren was appointed administratrix of his estate. In October 1995, Lauren gave birth to twin girls who had been conceived through artificial insemination using Warren's preserved semen. In January 1996, she applied to the Social Security Administration for child's insurance benefits under 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1) and mother's benefits under 42 U.S.C. § 402(g)(1). The SSA denied the claims on the ground that the twins were not the husband's children within the meaning of the Act. In February 1996, while pursuing appeals from the SSA denial, Lauren filed a complaint for correction of birth record in the Probate and Family Court against the clerk of the city of Beverly, seeking to add Warren as the father on the twins' birth certificates. In October 1996, a Probate Court judge entered a judgment of paternity based on stipulations of voluntary acknowledgment of parentage and ordered the birth certificates amended to declare Warren the children's father. An administrative law judge conducted a de novo hearing. The judge concluded that the children did not qualify for benefits because they were not entitled to inherit from Warren under Massachusetts intestacy and paternity laws. The SSA appeals council affirmed that decision. Lauren appealed to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The court certified the question regarding the inheritance rights of posthumously conceived children under Massachusetts intestacy law to the Supreme Judicial Court because the parties agreed that a determination under state law was dispositive and no directly applicable precedent existed.
View caseLeo Lang died intestate survived by two children and grandchildren. The probate court distributed the estate equally among the lineal descendants per stirpes. No collateral relatives received any portion under the statute.
Lydia Lowe devised her ranch to her son for life, remainder to his lineal descendants. After the son's death the remainder vested in his three children. The court enforced the limitation to lineal heirs only.
Lucas Lane adopted his stepdaughter and later died intestate. The court held the adopted child qualified as a lineal descendant entitled to the full intestate share. No distinction remained between biological and adopted lineal heirs.
Leonard Lutz disclaimed his inheritance from his father. The disclaimed property passed directly to Leonard's lineal children as if they had been named heirs. The disclaimer preserved the lineal chain of succession.
A lineal heir descends directly from the decedent in the blood line. A collateral heir shares ancestry but stands outside that direct descending line. The distinction determines priority in intestate succession under most state statutes.
Modern statutes and case law often recognize a posthumously conceived child as a lineal descendant when genetic and legal parentage are established. Recognition turns on whether the child is born within statutory time limits and whether the decedent consented to posthumous reproduction. Courts treat the child as standing in the same lineal position as children conceived before death.
Traditional language creating a fee simple allows inheritance by both lineal and collateral heirs. A limitation that restricts succession solely to lineal descendants typically creates a fee tail or defeasible fee rather than a fee simple absolute. The Restatement treats the broader inheritability as a defining feature of the fee simple.
…The more favorable treatment of illegitimate children claiming from their mothers' estates was justified because "proof of a lineal relationship is more readily ascertainable when dealing with maternal ancestors." Id., at 52 , 329 N. E. 2d, at 240. Alluding to the possibilities of abuse, the court rejected a…