Descent
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Hereditary succession
Title by descent is the title by which one law.
2 Bl. Comm. 201; Comyn, Dig. "Discent" (A).
It was one of the principles of the feudal system that, on the death of the tenant in fee, the land should descend, and not ascend. Hence the title by inheritance is in all cases called descent, although by statute law the title is sometimes made to ascend. The English doctrine of primogeniture, by which by the common law the eldest son and his issue take the whole real estate, has been universally abolished in this country. So, with few exceptions, has been the distinction between male and female heirs. Descent is either "lineal," as from father to son, or "collateral," as from brother to brother.