Issue (offspring) meaning

In legal practice, “issue” (offspring) describes a person’s lineal descendants—children, grandchildren and remoter descendants of every degree. It excludes collateral relatives such as siblings, nephews or nieces. The term is widely used in wills, trusts and intestacy to identify who takes on a per stirpes/representation basis and to operate substitution or anti-lapse provisions. For intestacy, legislation defines the term: in England and Wales and Northern Ireland the Administration of Estates legislation treats “issue” as all lineal descendants; in Ireland the Succession Act 1965 defines “issue” similarly. Usage in Scotland is broadly consistent (often expressed as “issue” or “descendants”), with rights of representation applying on intestacy. Unless the instrument provides otherwise, modern statutes mean that: - Adopted children are issue of their adopters (and not of their birth parents). - Children are treated equally regardless of parents’ marital status. - Step-children are not issue unless adopted or expressly included. Parent–child status for assisted reproduction and surrogacy is determined by the relevant adoption and parentage legislation in each jurisdiction. The exact scope can be modified by express drafting (for example, by defining “issue” to include or exclude particular relationships), so construction depends on the language of the will or trust.