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Simple English definitions for legal terms
predecease
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A quick definition of predecease:
Predecease: When someone dies before another person, it's called predecease. This is important in estate and trust law because if someone who was supposed to inherit dies before the person making the will, the inheritance might go to someone else. There are different ways to divide up an estate if someone predeceases, like giving equal shares to each branch of the family or dividing it up by generation.
A more thorough explanation:
Definition: Predecease means to die before another person or to fail to survive another person. In the field of estates and trusts law, it is significant when someone who is intended to be a beneficiary in a will dies before the person drafting the will, the testator.
For example, if a testator leaves a bequest to their child, but the child predeceases the testator, most jurisdictions have adopted antilapse statutes to prevent the bequest from lapsing. However, if the testator dies without leaving a will, a probate court may apply other mechanisms to determine which descendants are to inherit from the estate in accordance with intestate succession statutes.
There are different methods of distributing estates, such as:
- Pure per stirpes: Distributes equal shares of the estate to each branch of the family, even if a descendant branch member predeceases the decedent. For example, if a decedent has three children (A, B, C), where two children A and B are predeceased with one child each (A1, B1), and where the surviving child C has no issue, each descendant (C, A1, B1) would take equally from the estate.
- Per capita by generation: Each generation with surviving heirs receives an equal share of the estate. For example, if a decedent has three children (A, B, C), where two children A and B are predeceased with one child each (A1, B1), and where the surviving child C has no issue, each descendant (C, A1, B1) would take equally from the estate.
- Per capita with representation: Divides estates according to which generation of heirs closest to the decedent is represented by surviving members. If the closest generation has predeceased class members who leave no issue, the surviving members of that generation take equally. If the closest generation’s predeceased class members do leave issue, any surviving members of that closest generation take first, then the remainder of these primary shares goes to the issue of the predeceased descendants to be split equally among them.
These methods illustrate how an estate can be distributed when someone predeceases the decedent. They ensure that the estate is distributed fairly among the surviving descendants.