Table of Contents
Each strip determines that if a beneficiary makes a will to the testator, the inheritance portion of the estate goes to his heirs. The per capita approach is the same: all heirs are divided equally among the beneficiaries of the will.
Per Stirpes
Hi. we often use in estate planning called “per stirpes” PER new word STIRPES per stirpes It basically means by representation.
It’s your right to receive an inheritance basically per stirpes What it means is we’re gonna go down the family tree and they’ll often say we’re going to distribute the estate equally amongst the children per stirpes What that means is is if one of the children has died before the distribution is made then their children will receive their representation.
So if it’s to be divided into four pieces and one of the children has died and left issue we call them “issue” we don’t call them “kids” left issue then those children let’s say they have two children those two children would receive the share their parent would have received.
So we’ve gone per stirpes or by representation. They represent what their parent would have received from mom and dad or grandma or grandpa or wherever. So per stirpes means it goes down.
Now if one of the two children has also died and they have left issue then those issue would get their piece. So we’re just going to filter down through the family tree like that per stirpes by representation basically the same term and the lawyers use them pretty much interchangeably. Lee Phillips talking on a legal term per stirpes
Per capita
Per capita is a Latin prepositional phrase: per and capita. The phrase thus means “by heads” or “for each head”, i.e., per individual/person.
The term is used in a wide variety of social sciences and statistical research contexts, including government statistics, economic indicators, and built environment studies. It is commonly and usually used in the field of statistics in place of saying “for each person” or “per person”.
It is also used in wills to indicate that each of the named beneficiaries should receive, by devise or bequest, equal shares of the estate.
This is in contrast to a per stirpes division, in which each branch of the inheriting family inherits an equal share of the estate. See also Per capita income References
Difference Between Per Stirpes and Per Capita
| Per Stirpes Distributions | Per Capita Distributions |
| Should a beneficiary die, these remain in effect | Become null and void should the beneficiary die |
| Bequest passes automatically to the deceased beneficiary’s descendants | Bequest reverts back to the estate to be shared equally by all surviving beneficiaries |
