Legal Definitions - spes accrescendi

Spes accrescendi refers to the expectation or hope that one's share in a property, legacy, or inheritance will increase due to the death of another co-owner or co-beneficiary. It is the anticipation of acquiring a larger portion by outliving someone else who holds an interest in the same asset.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Jointly Owned Real Estate: Imagine three friends, Sarah, Tom, and Olivia, who jointly purchase a vacation cabin. Their ownership is structured as a "joint tenancy with right of survivorship." This legal arrangement means that if one of them passes away, their share of the property does not go to their own heirs but is automatically absorbed by the surviving co-owners. Each friend holds a spes accrescendi because they have the hope that if one of the others dies, their own ownership percentage in the cabin will increase, effectively gaining a larger share by outliving their co-owner.

• Conditional Inheritance in a Will: Consider a will that stipulates a large sum of money is to be divided equally among three siblings, Mark, Lisa, and Kevin, but only if they are all alive at the time of the testator's death and for a specific period thereafter. The will further states that if one sibling dies before this condition is met, their share will be redistributed among the surviving siblings. In this scenario, Mark, Lisa, and Kevin each possess a spes accrescendi. They have the hope that if one of their siblings passes away before the inheritance is fully vested, their own individual share of the inheritance will increase.

• Beneficiaries of a Trust Fund: A wealthy grandparent establishes a trust fund for their two grandchildren, Emily and Ben, with instructions that the principal will be distributed equally between them when they both reach the age of 30. However, the trust document also specifies that if one grandchild dies before turning 30, the entire principal will go to the surviving grandchild upon their 30th birthday. Both Emily and Ben have a spes accrescendi. Each has the hope that by surviving the other until the distribution date, they will receive the entirety of the trust fund, thereby significantly increasing their expected inheritance.