This week's estate planning term is one of my favorites to explain - Per Stirpes. The typical will or trust of a person who has children will use the term in the following manner: "I leave my estate/trust to my then living descendants, per stirpes."

Per stirpes is a Latin term that means "by representation." What this means in the estate planning context is that if a will or trust leaves property per stirpes, then you have to take a look at who is alive at each generational level of the group named to determine who really gets what.


The easiest way to explain the concept of per stirpes distribution of an estate or trust is by some examples:

1. Assume that a will states that the estate will be left to the testator's then living descendants, per stirpes, and the testator is survived by two children and six grandchildren. In this example each child will receive a 1/2 share of the estate and the grandchildren will receive nothing.
2. Assume that a will states that the estate will be left to the testator's then living descendants, per stirpes, and the testator had two children and six grandchildren and one child and six grandchildren survive the testator and the child who predeceased the testator was the parent of four of the six grandchildren. In this example the surviving child will receive a 1/2 share of the estate and the four children of the deceased child will share equally in the deceased child's 1/2 share so that each grandchild will receive a 1/8 share: 1/2 divided 4 = 1/8.

For more examples refer to What's the Difference Between Per Stirpes and Per Capita Distributions?