Legal Definitions - collateral line

A collateral line refers to a relationship between individuals who share a common ancestor but are not in a direct line of ascent or descent from each other. This means they are not parents, children, grandparents, or grandchildren of one another. Instead, they are related "sideways" through a shared relative, such as siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, or cousins. This concept is often important in inheritance law, especially when determining who inherits property if there are no direct descendants.

• Example 1: Siblings Inheriting

  When a person passes away without a spouse or children, and their parents are also deceased, their closest living relatives might be their siblings. For instance, if Maria dies and her only living relatives are her brother, David, and her sister, Elena, then David and Elena are considered to be in a collateral line to Maria.

  This illustrates the term because David and Elena share common parents with Maria (their direct ancestors), but they are not Maria's parents or children. Their relationship to Maria is "sideways" through their shared parents, placing them in a collateral line for inheritance purposes.

• Example 2: Aunt and Nephew in a Will

  Consider a will that states if the primary beneficiary (the testator's child) predeceases the testator, the estate should instead go to the testator's nephew, Robert. In this scenario, Robert is in a collateral line to the testator.

  This demonstrates a collateral line because Robert, the nephew, shares a common ancestor with the testator (the testator's parent, who is also Robert's grandparent). However, Robert is not the testator's child or grandchild; he is the child of the testator's sibling. Their relationship is not direct up or down the family tree but rather through a shared ancestor and a "side branch."

• Example 3: Distributing Trust Assets to Cousins

  A family trust might specify that if all direct descendants of the original grantor (the person who created the trust) pass away, the remaining assets should be distributed among the grantor's first cousins. Here, the first cousins are in a collateral line to the original grantor.

  This example shows a collateral line because the first cousins share a common set of grandparents with the grantor. They are not the grantor's children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents. Their relationship is "off to the side" of the direct lineage, connected through a shared set of ancestors but not directly descended from one another.