Descent - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition descent

Definition :

Descent, one of the two chief methods of acquiring an estate in lands before 1926. It is defined in the interpretation clause of the Inheritance Act, 1833 (3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 106), as 'the title to inherit lands by reason of consanguinity, as well where the heir shall be an ancestor or collateral relation as where he shall be a child or other issue.'-Consult Watkins on Descents; Sugden's R. P. Stats., ch. iv. See INHERITANCE.