diff --git a/bin/backends/zellij.sh b/bin/backends/zellij.sh
index 56478f7db35..d06b5258864 100644
--- a/bin/backends/zellij.sh
+++ b/bin/backends/zellij.sh
@@ -304,7 +304,12 @@ fm_backend_zellij_pane_exists() {  # <session> <pane_id>
 fm_backend_zellij_tab_matches_label() {  # <session> <tab_id> <label>
   local session=$1 tab_id=$2 label=$3 scoped tabs count
   scoped=$(fm_backend_zellij_scoped_title "$label")
-  tabs=$(fm_backend_zellij_cli "$session" action list-tabs --json 2>/dev/null)
+  tabs=$(fm_backend_zellij_cli "$session" action list-tabs --json 2>/dev/null) || return 1
+  # An absent or unreachable zellij yields NO output, and `jq -e` over empty
+  # input exits 0 (verified: jq 1.6) - so without this guard the checks below
+  # would pass vacuously and prove a label nothing was read from. This is an
+  # identity proof, so no read means not proven.
+  [ -n "$tabs" ] || return 1
   printf '%s' "$tabs" | jq -e --argjson t "$tab_id" --arg want "$scoped" \
     '[.[]? | select(.tab_id == $t and .name == $want)] | length > 0' >/dev/null 2>&1 && return 0
   printf '%s' "$tabs" | jq -e --argjson t "$tab_id" --arg want "$label" \
diff --git a/bin/fm-teardown.sh b/bin/fm-teardown.sh
index 791a609fcf7..00052b3fdc2 100755
--- a/bin/fm-teardown.sh
+++ b/bin/fm-teardown.sh
@@ -2063,34 +2063,72 @@ preflight_descendant_task_locks() {
   done
 }
 
+# teardown_holds_descendant_meta_lock: does this teardown already hold that
+# exact child record's own metadata lock? preflight_descendant_task_locks
+# records every lock it acquires in DESCENDANT_LOCK_PATHS and holds them until
+# this teardown exits, so membership of the child's own meta-lock path is the
+# structural proof, independent of which call site asks.
+teardown_holds_descendant_meta_lock() {  # <state> <task-id>
+  local state=$1 id=$2 want i
+  want=$(fm_meta_lock_path "$state/$id.meta") || return 1
+  for ((i=0; i < ${#DESCENDANT_LOCK_PATHS[@]}; i++)); do
+    [ "${DESCENDANT_LOCK_PATHS[$i]}" != "$want" ] || return 0
+  done
+  return 1
+}
+
+# validate_child_task_endpoint: the endpoint identity test both recursive
+# secondmate preflights run over one child record, so the legacy-record shape is
+# settled in one place for both.
+#
+# Offline by default. The ONE recoverable shape - a record written before the
+# endpoint_task_id binding existed, internally consistent in every other respect
+# (code 2) - is upgraded through fm_backend_resolve_task_endpoint, but only while
+# this teardown already holds THAT child's own metadata lock, which is the
+# precondition the resolver's write demands. preflight_descendant_task_locks
+# takes exactly those locks, so the pass that runs after it recovers while the
+# cheap pre-lock pass defers with code 2 rather than deciding: refusing there
+# would strand the record the locked pass can prove, and accepting there would
+# authorize an unproven endpoint. Every other refusal, and a legacy record the
+# live endpoint cannot prove, still refuses with nothing mutated.
+#
+# The live label proof is read as the CHILD home, not the parent: zellij and
+# cmux scope their runtime titles by owning home tag, exactly as forced cleanup
+# already re-scopes its zellij child kills below.
+#
+# Returns 0 valid (with FM_BACKEND_VALIDATED_* set), 1 refused, 2 deferred to
+# the locked pass.
+validate_child_task_endpoint() {  # <home> <state> <meta> <task-id>
+  local home=$1 state=$2 meta=$3 id=$4 rc=0
+  if teardown_holds_descendant_meta_lock "$state" "$id"; then
+    ( unset FM_ROOT_OVERRIDE; FM_HOME=$home FM_ROOT=$home \
+        fm_backend_resolve_task_endpoint "$meta" "$id" ) || return 1
+    fm_backend_validate_task_endpoint "$meta" "$id"
+    return
+  fi
+  # Pre-lock pass. Its diagnostics are held back until the code is known, so the
+  # one recoverable shape defers silently instead of printing a refusal the
+  # locked pass then goes on to recover; every refusal it does settle is
+  # re-emitted verbatim by the second call before this returns it.
+  fm_backend_validate_task_endpoint "$meta" "$id" 2>/dev/null || rc=$?
+  [ "$rc" -ne 2 ] || return 2
+  [ "$rc" -eq 0 ] || fm_backend_validate_task_endpoint "$meta" "$id"
+  return "$rc"
+}
+
 # validate_firstmate_home_children_removal: authorize removal of every task
 # record inside a secondmate's own home, recursively.
-#
-# KNOWN LIMITATION, left for a follow-up. This loop deliberately uses the
-# OFFLINE fm_backend_validate_task_endpoint, so it does NOT get the legacy-record
-# recovery the top-level teardown path has. A secondmate home holding a child
-# record written before the endpoint_task_id binding existed (#1171) therefore
-# still refuses teardown on the first such child meta, with the same "lacks an
-# exact task binding" message. That is PRE-EXISTING behavior, not a regression
-# from the recovery work: those records refused identically before it, when the
-# same validator returned 1 instead of today's recoverable 2. It is not wired
-# here because fm_backend_resolve_task_endpoint requires the caller to hold THAT
-# child record's own meta lock before it writes, while teardown holds only the
-# parent task's, so correct wiring needs per-child locking inside a recursive
-# preflight that currently takes no locks at all - deliberately out of scope.
-# Operator workaround: run bin/fm-control.sh <child-id> exit or relaunch against
-# the secondmate's own home first, which upgrades that child record through the
-# resolver, then tear down.
 validate_firstmate_home_children_removal() {
-  local home=$1 sub_state child_meta child_id child_wt child_proj child_kind child_home child_backend child_orca_worktree_id
+  local home=$1 sub_state child_meta child_id child_wt child_proj child_kind child_home child_backend child_orca_worktree_id child_rc
   sub_state="$home/state"
   [ -d "$sub_state" ] || return 0
   for child_meta in "$sub_state"/*.meta; do
     [ -e "$child_meta" ] || continue
     child_id=$(basename "$child_meta" .meta)
-    # Offline validator by design; a legacy child record refuses here rather
-    # than being recovered - see this function's known limitation above.
-    fm_backend_validate_task_endpoint "$child_meta" "$child_id" || return 1
+    child_rc=0
+    validate_child_task_endpoint "$home" "$sub_state" "$child_meta" "$child_id" || child_rc=$?
+    # 2 is the pre-lock deferral; the locked pass below decides that record.
+    [ "$child_rc" -eq 0 ] || [ "$child_rc" -eq 2 ] || return 1
     validate_pr_poll_cleanup "$sub_state" "$child_id" || return 1
     child_wt=$(meta_value "$child_meta" worktree)
     child_kind=$(meta_value "$child_meta" kind)
@@ -2229,12 +2267,10 @@ $session	$lock_path"
 # preflight_firstmate_home_herdr_children: reserve every herdr endpoint inside a
 # secondmate's own home before anything is torn down, recursively.
 #
-# Carries the SAME known limitation as validate_firstmate_home_children_removal,
-# for the same reason and with the same operator workaround: this loop uses the
-# OFFLINE validator, so a pre-#1171 child record still refuses teardown here with
-# "lacks an exact task binding" instead of being recovered, which is pre-existing
-# rather than a regression, and wiring the resolver in would need per-child meta
-# locking this recursive preflight does not have. Left for a follow-up.
+# Shares validate_child_task_endpoint with validate_firstmate_home_children_removal.
+# This loop only ever runs after preflight_descendant_task_locks, so that helper
+# always takes its recovering path here; a record it could not prove locked
+# refuses rather than reserving an endpoint on an unvalidated target.
 preflight_firstmate_home_herdr_children() {  # <home>
   local home=$1 sub_state child_meta child_id child_backend child_target child_kind child_home child_wt
   sub_state="$home/state"
@@ -2242,9 +2278,7 @@ preflight_firstmate_home_herdr_children() {  # <home>
   for child_meta in "$sub_state"/*.meta; do
     [ -e "$child_meta" ] || continue
     child_id=$(basename "$child_meta" .meta)
-    # Offline validator by design; a legacy child record refuses here rather
-    # than being recovered - see this function's known limitation above.
-    fm_backend_validate_task_endpoint "$child_meta" "$child_id" || return 1
+    validate_child_task_endpoint "$home" "$sub_state" "$child_meta" "$child_id" || return 1
     child_backend=$FM_BACKEND_VALIDATED_BACKEND
     child_target=$FM_BACKEND_VALIDATED_TARGET
     if [ "$child_backend" = herdr ]; then
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index db41a1d1440..e8c6a36f9d0 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ The runtime query itself is read-only, and the only write the re-derivation make
 It refuses whenever the label cannot be proven to belong to exactly that recorded endpoint.
 The three backends are not equally covered: herdr proves the full recorded chain of workspace, pane, owning tab, and label, while zellij and cmux prove only that the recorded tab or workspace carries the label and never that the recorded pane or surface still belongs to it.
 A further known limitation is that the cmux proof reads only the currently focused window, so a cmux task whose workspace lives in another window is refused and stays stranded, and a same-titled workspace in another window is invisible to its uniqueness guard.
-A third known limitation: the recursive child loops that authorize teardown of a secondmate's own home use the offline validator only, so a child record predating the binding still refuses that teardown with the same message; this is pre-existing rather than new, and the workaround is to run `fm-control.sh <child-id> exit` or `relaunch` against the secondmate's home first, which upgrades that record, and then tear down.
+The recursive child loops that authorize teardown of a secondmate's own home settle such a child record through that same re-derivation, read as the child's own home because zellij and cmux scope their runtime titles by owning home, but only while the teardown already holds that exact child record's own metadata lock; the cheap pass that runs before those locks are taken defers the record to the locked pass instead of deciding it, and a child whose live endpoint cannot prove its label still refuses with the child record, the secondmate home, the parent record, and the child worktree's unlanded work all intact and no binding written.
 `FM_HOME` determines Herdr's home label: the primary home uses `firstmate`, and a secondmate home marked by `.fm-secondmate-home` uses `2ndmate-<secondmate-id>`.
 [`herdr-backend.md`](herdr-backend.md#watching-and-task-containers) owns launcher-bound workspace placement, the label-only fallback, collision handling, and recovery behavior.
 The local `config/herdr-presentation-spaces` file instead opts a home out of, or explicitly in to, Herdr's default-on disposable single-task visual projection; [Presentation spaces](herdr-backend.md#presentation-spaces) owns its accepted values, default, Herdr version floor, migration, behavior, safety limits, recovery contract, and narrow locked session-start cleanup of exact restored idle-shell children.
diff --git a/docs/verification/runtime-backends.md b/docs/verification/runtime-backends.md
index c497adb321b..979676440ed 100644
--- a/docs/verification/runtime-backends.md
+++ b/docs/verification/runtime-backends.md
@@ -184,8 +184,9 @@ Its one exception is a record predating the `endpoint_task_id` binding on an opa
 A tmux or Orca record needs no such query, because its recorded window name is already `fm-<id>`.
 That query proves the full recorded chain only on herdr; on zellij and cmux it proves just the recorded tab or workspace label, not that the recorded pane or surface still belongs to it, and the cmux proof additionally reads only the currently focused window, so a cmux task whose workspace lives elsewhere is refused and stays stranded.
 Both are known limitations left for a follow-up; in every unproven case the outcome is refusal, never action on an unproven endpoint.
-Only the herdr branch of that proof has executable coverage; the zellij branch and cmux's workspace matcher have none, so their refusal behavior is established by code reading alone and a test for them is left for a follow-up.
-The recursive child loops in `fm-teardown.sh` also keep using the offline validator, so a legacy child record inside a secondmate home still refuses that teardown, pre-existing and likewise left for a follow-up.
+The zellij branch is covered by the forced-teardown legacy-child cases in `tests/fm-secondmate-safety.test.sh` and by the no-read case in `tests/fm-backend-zellij.test.sh`, which pins that an unreachable or silent zellij returns no tab list and so proves nothing, rather than passing vacuously because `jq -e` over empty input exits 0.
+cmux's workspace matcher still has no executable coverage, so its refusal behavior is established by code reading alone and a test for it is left for a follow-up.
+The recursive child loops in `fm-teardown.sh` settle a legacy child record inside a secondmate home through that same proof, under the child's own metadata lock; [`docs/configuration.md`](../configuration.md) owns that contract, and the four forced-teardown cases in `tests/fm-secondmate-safety.test.sh` pin recovery, refusal with nothing mutated, the offline current-format path, and refusal under a foreign metadata lock.
 Claude, Codex, OpenCode, Pi, pi-signed, Grok, Kimi, Cursor, and Muse share that backend cleanup boundary; their harness-specific hook files, tokens, transcript bindings, and session-log sidecars are cleaned only after it, so no harness needs a separate endpoint parser.
 
 ## Composer classification matrix
diff --git a/tests/fm-backend-zellij.test.sh b/tests/fm-backend-zellij.test.sh
index 4963b051314..b8ba1153d6f 100755
--- a/tests/fm-backend-zellij.test.sh
+++ b/tests/fm-backend-zellij.test.sh
@@ -1358,3 +1358,27 @@ test_send_text_submit_send_failed_when_pane_absent
 test_scripts_route_explicit_target_through_meta_backend
 test_scripts_verify_label_for_fm_targets
 test_scripts_reject_fm_target_label_mismatch
+
+test_expected_label_refuses_when_no_tab_list_was_read() {
+  local dir fb status
+  dir="$TMP_ROOT/label-no-read"; mkdir -p "$dir/responses"
+  fb=$(make_zellij_fakebin "$dir")
+  # The label proof must actually READ a tab list before it can prove anything,
+  # and `jq -e` over EMPTY input exits 0 (verified: jq 1.6) - so without a guard
+  # a list that was never read would "prove" the label. Both no-read shapes:
+  # 1. an unreachable zellij that fails outright.
+  printf '1\n' > "$dir/responses/1.exit"
+  PATH="$fb:$PATH" FM_ZELLIJ_LOG="$dir/log" FM_ZELLIJ_RESPONSES="$dir/responses" \
+    bash -c '. "$0/bin/backends/zellij.sh"; fm_backend_zellij_tab_matches_label firstmate 3 fm-task' "$ROOT"
+  status=$?
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ] || fail "an unreachable zellij must not prove a tab label"
+
+  # 2. a reachable zellij that answers with nothing at all.
+  PATH="$fb:$PATH" FM_ZELLIJ_LOG="$dir/log" FM_ZELLIJ_RESPONSES="$dir/responses" \
+    bash -c '. "$0/bin/backends/zellij.sh"; fm_backend_zellij_tab_matches_label firstmate 3 fm-task' "$ROOT"
+  status=$?
+  [ "$status" -ne 0 ] || fail "an empty tab list must not prove a tab label"
+  pass "fm_backend_zellij_tab_matches_label: refuses when no tab list could be read at all"
+}
+
+test_expected_label_refuses_when_no_tab_list_was_read
diff --git a/tests/fm-secondmate-safety.test.sh b/tests/fm-secondmate-safety.test.sh
index 5d710f4f93c..5a6d3ca36a0 100755
--- a/tests/fm-secondmate-safety.test.sh
+++ b/tests/fm-secondmate-safety.test.sh
@@ -3030,3 +3030,158 @@ test_secondmate_idle_pane_is_not_stale
 test_secondmate_charter_brief_is_idle_by_default
 test_backlog_handoff_aborts_safely
 test_backlog_handoff_refuses_done_items_and_non_secondmate_homes
+
+# --- legacy child endpoint records inside a secondmate home -----------------
+#
+# A child task record written before the endpoint_task_id binding existed
+# (bin/fm-spawn.sh) carries no OFFLINE proof that its opaque zellij/cmux/Herdr
+# endpoint is that child's. Forced secondmate teardown used to refuse such a
+# record outright, stranding the whole home. It now recovers exactly as the
+# top-level teardown path does - through the live endpoint's own fm-<id> label -
+# and only while it already holds that child record's own metadata lock.
+
+# make_legacy_child_case <name> [child-key=value...]: a parent home holding one
+# secondmate whose own home holds one child ship record, plus a fake tmux, a
+# fake zellij whose `action list-tabs --json` answers from <dir>/tabs.json and
+# whose every call is logged to <dir>/zellij.calls, and a real child worktree.
+# Echoes the case directory. The child record is legacy (no endpoint_task_id)
+# unless the caller passes one.
+make_legacy_child_case() {  # <name> [extra-meta-line...]
+  local name=$1 dir home subhome childproj childwt fakebin
+  shift
+  dir="$TMP_ROOT/$name"
+  home="$dir/home"
+  subhome="$dir/subhome"
+  childproj="$subhome/projects/alpha"
+  childwt="$dir/child-worktree"
+  mkdir -p "$home/state" "$home/data" "$subhome/state"
+  fm_git_worktree "$childproj" "$childwt" "legacy-child-$name"
+  : > "$childwt/sentinel"
+  printf 'domain\n' > "$subhome/.fm-secondmate-home"
+  fm_write_secondmate_meta "$home/state/domain.meta" "$subhome"
+  printf '%s\n' '- domain - design domain (home: '"$subhome"'; scope: design domain; projects: alpha; added 2026-06-22)' \
+    > "$home/data/secondmates.md"
+  fm_write_meta "$subhome/state/child.meta" \
+    "window=lab:7" "worktree=$childwt" "project=$childproj" \
+    "harness=echo" "kind=ship" "mode=no-mistakes" "yolo=off" \
+    "backend=zellij" "zellij_session=lab" "zellij_tab_id=3" "zellij_pane_id=7" "$@"
+  fakebin=$(make_fake_tmux "$dir/fake")
+  cat > "$fakebin/zellij" <<'SH'
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -u
+printf 'zellij %s\n' "$*" >> "${FM_FAKE_ZELLIJ_CALLS:?}"
+for arg in "$@"; do
+  case "$arg" in
+    list-tabs) cat "${FM_FAKE_ZELLIJ_TABS:?}"; exit 0 ;;
+    list-sessions) printf 'lab\n'; exit 0 ;;
+  esac
+done
+exit 0
+SH
+  chmod +x "$fakebin/zellij"
+  : > "$dir/zellij.calls"
+  # The proven shape: exactly one live tab, id 3, carrying the child's own label.
+  printf '[{"tab_id":3,"name":"fm-child"}]\n' > "$dir/tabs.json"
+  printf '%s\n' "$dir"
+}
+
+run_legacy_child_teardown() {  # <dir>
+  local dir=$1
+  PATH="$dir/fake/fakebin:$PATH" FM_HOME="$dir/home" \
+    FM_FAKE_TMUX_LOG="$dir/fake/tmux.log" FM_FAKE_TMUX_CAPTURE="$dir/fake/pane.txt" \
+    FM_FAKE_ZELLIJ_CALLS="$dir/zellij.calls" FM_FAKE_ZELLIJ_TABS="$dir/tabs.json" \
+    "$ROOT/bin/fm-teardown.sh" domain --force >"$dir/out" 2>"$dir/err"
+}
+
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_recovers_provable_legacy_child() {
+  local dir
+  dir=$(make_legacy_child_case legacy-child-provable)
+  run_legacy_child_teardown "$dir" \
+    || fail "forced teardown refused a legacy child whose live endpoint proves its own label: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  grep -F 'action list-tabs' "$dir/zellij.calls" >/dev/null \
+    || fail "recovery did not read the live endpoint at all: $(cat "$dir/zellij.calls")"
+  grep -F "re-derived its binding from the live endpoint's own fm-child label" "$dir/err" >/dev/null \
+    || fail "recovery did not report the re-derived binding: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  assert_absent "$dir/subhome" "recovered forced teardown left the secondmate home behind"
+  assert_absent "$dir/child-worktree" "recovered forced teardown left the discarded child worktree behind"
+  pass "forced secondmate teardown recovers a legacy child record from its live endpoint label"
+}
+
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_refuses_unprovable_legacy_child() {
+  local dir rc
+  dir=$(make_legacy_child_case legacy-child-unprovable)
+  # The recorded tab now carries someone else's label, so nothing binds this
+  # record to this child and the endpoint stays unidentified.
+  printf '[{"tab_id":3,"name":"fm-other"}]\n' > "$dir/tabs.json"
+  set +e
+  run_legacy_child_teardown "$dir"
+  rc=$?
+  set -e
+  [ "$rc" -ne 0 ] || fail "forced teardown accepted a legacy child its live endpoint cannot identify"
+  grep -F 'could not prove from the live endpoint' "$dir/err" >/dev/null \
+    || fail "the refusal should name the failed proof: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  assert_present "$dir/subhome/state/child.meta" "an unprovable legacy child lost its durable record"
+  assert_present "$dir/child-worktree/sentinel" "an unprovable legacy child lost its unlanded work"
+  assert_present "$dir/home/state/domain.meta" "an unprovable legacy child cost the secondmate its own record"
+  grep -q '^endpoint_task_id=' "$dir/subhome/state/child.meta" \
+    && fail "an unprovable endpoint must not be bound"
+  pass "forced secondmate teardown refuses a legacy child whose endpoint cannot be proven, changing nothing"
+}
+
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_keeps_current_format_child_offline() {
+  local dir
+  dir=$(make_legacy_child_case legacy-child-current endpoint_task_id=child)
+  run_legacy_child_teardown "$dir" \
+    || fail "forced teardown refused a current-format child record: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  grep -F 'lacks an exact task binding' "$dir/err" >/dev/null \
+    && fail "a current-format child was treated as a legacy record: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  grep -F 're-derived its binding' "$dir/err" >/dev/null \
+    && fail "a current-format child must be identified offline, with no label re-derivation: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  assert_absent "$dir/subhome" "forced teardown left the secondmate home behind"
+  pass "forced secondmate teardown decides a current-format child offline, with no live endpoint read"
+}
+
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_refuses_legacy_child_under_foreign_meta_lock() {
+  local dir lock holder i=0 rc
+  dir=$(make_legacy_child_case legacy-child-meta-lock)
+  lock="$dir/subhome/state/.meta-child.lock"
+  (
+    # shellcheck source=/dev/null
+    . "$ROOT/bin/fm-wake-lib.sh"
+    fm_lock_try_acquire "$lock" || exit 1
+    sleep 30
+  ) &
+  holder=$!
+  while [ ! -e "$lock" ] && [ "$i" -lt 100 ]; do
+    sleep 0.1
+    i=$((i + 1))
+  done
+  [ -e "$lock" ] || {
+    kill "$holder" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$holder" 2>/dev/null || true
+    fail "could not stage a held child metadata lock"
+  }
+  set +e
+  run_legacy_child_teardown "$dir"
+  rc=$?
+  set -e
+  kill "$holder" 2>/dev/null || true
+  wait "$holder" 2>/dev/null || true
+  [ "$rc" -ne 0 ] || fail "forced teardown recovered a legacy child without owning its metadata lock"
+  grep -F 'metadata update in flight' "$dir/err" >/dev/null \
+    || fail "the refusal should name the contended child metadata lock: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  [ ! -s "$dir/zellij.calls" ] \
+    || fail "the contended teardown reached the runtime at all: $(cat "$dir/zellij.calls")"
+  grep -F 're-derived its binding' "$dir/err" >/dev/null \
+    && fail "recovery re-derived a binding without owning the child's metadata lock: $(cat "$dir/err")"
+  grep -q '^endpoint_task_id=' "$dir/subhome/state/child.meta" \
+    && fail "a record whose lock is held elsewhere must not be bound"
+  assert_present "$dir/subhome/state/child.meta" "contended forced teardown removed the child record"
+  assert_present "$dir/child-worktree/sentinel" "contended forced teardown discarded unlanded child work"
+  pass "forced secondmate teardown never recovers a legacy child whose metadata lock is held elsewhere"
+}
+
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_recovers_provable_legacy_child
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_refuses_unprovable_legacy_child
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_keeps_current_format_child_offline
+test_secondmate_force_teardown_refuses_legacy_child_under_foreign_meta_lock