Quoting%20commentary for Bava Batra 230:1

הא כיצד נחלה ממשמשת והולכת עד ראובן ולימא עד יעקב אמר אביי גמירי דלא כלה שבטא

In what manner [is] this [enquiry carried out]? — [In a manner that] the estate may ultimately find its way<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'goes on groping'. ');">¹</span> to Reuben.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The first ancestor of the tribe. As inquiries have to be made for descendants so, if no surviving descendants can be traced, similar inquiries have to be instituted for paternal ancestors and their rightful heirs. If, for example, the deceased has neither issue, nor a surviving father, brother, nephew (brother's son), niece, sister, nephew (sister's son); and none of the descendants of these is alive. And if inquiry has also established that there exists no surviving father's father, nor father's brother, father's nephew (father's brother's son), father's sister, nor nephew (father's sister's son), further inquiries must be carried on in descending order. Once it has been definitely established that none of the line survives, enquiries are instituted in an ascending order, on the paternal side, and are carried on from father (including their heirs, as in the case of the descending line), until the first ancestor of the tribe is reached. There is no need to go any higher since if any single member of the tribe survived his relationship to the deceased could be established. ');">²</span>

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