The ABCs of Estate Planning: S is for Stirpes

S is for STIRPES. One of the last Latin phrases left in estate planning is the term “Per Stirpes” “Per Stirpes” means that a bequest to a child who predeceases the decedent passes to the child’s children (grandchildren) as if they were that child. A bequest by a mother to a son who has three children means that if the son dies before his mother, the share of the mother’s estate that would have gone to the son passes in three equal portions to the son’s three children. Sometimes you see the words “by right of representation” instead of “Per Stirpes.”