That which belongs to the father or comes from him. Paternal power. The authority lawfully exercised by parents over their children. This phrase is also used to translate the Latin “pa tria potestas” (g. v.)Paternal property. That which descends or comes to one from his father, grandfather, or other ascendant or collateral on the paternal side of the house.
PATERNAL
TheLaw.com Law Dictionary & Black's Law Dictionary 2nd Ed.