To pronounce “per stirpes” the way American attorneys and probate courts say it, use three syllables: pur STUR-peez. Stress the middle syllable, and end with a long “ee” sound that rhymes with “fees.” That’s the pronunciation you’ll hear in almost every estate planning meeting, financial advisor’s office, and courtroom in the United States.
The Two Accepted Pronunciations
Both the Americanized and classical Latin pronunciations are considered correct. The Americanized version, “pur STUR-peez,” dominates daily legal practice. Broken down, it’s “pur” (rhymes with “her”), “STUR” (rhymes with “fur”), and “peez” (rhymes with “fees”).
The classical Latin version is “pair STEER-pays.” You may hear it from academics or in formal settings, but it’s the minority choice. If you’re walking into a meeting about your will or a beneficiary form, “pur STUR-peez” is the safer default. No one will blink at either one.
Mispronunciations to Avoid
The most common slip is crushing “stirpes” into one syllable, saying “strips” or “sturps” as if it rhymes with “burps.” The word has two syllables, and dropping the second changes it entirely. Another frequent error is reading it as “per stripes,” which sounds like a fabric pattern rather than an inheritance method. A third pitfall is keeping the hard American “r” while trying to say “steerpees,” a hybrid that doesn’t match either accepted version. Stay with “pur STUR-peez” and you’ll sound like someone who’s said it before.
What You’re Actually Saying
“Per stirpes” comes from Latin, where “stirps” means the root or trunk of a tree. The metaphor is deliberate: an estate splits along family branches. When a will or beneficiary form says assets pass per stirpes, each branch of the family gets an equal share, and if a named beneficiary has already died, that person’s share flows down to their own children or grandchildren rather than being redistributed among the surviving beneficiaries.
A quick example makes it concrete. Say you have three children, Alan, Beth, and Claude, and your will leaves your estate to them equally, per stirpes. Beth and Claude survive you, but Alan dies first, leaving two children of his own. Beth and Claude each take one-third. Alan’s one-third passes to his two kids, who split it and receive one-sixth apiece. Alan’s branch stays intact.
You may also see “by right of representation” on legal forms. In most states it means the same thing, though a few states draw fine distinctions when multiple beneficiaries in the same generation have died.
Where You’ll Say It Out Loud
Most people first encounter the phrase on beneficiary designation forms for life insurance, IRAs, and 401(k) accounts, where “per stirpes” is often a checkbox option. It also shows up in wills and revocable trusts, usually in a sentence like: “If Alan John Smith does not survive me, this share shall be distributed to his descendants, per stirpes.”
One boundary worth knowing before you assume the option is universal: not every financial product allows a per stirpes designation. Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance, for instance, does not accept per stirpes designations on its beneficiary forms.1U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What Is a Per Stirpes Designation? Can I Use One When Designating Beneficiaries for My FEGLI Life Insurance? Simple bank forms like payable-on-death registrations often lack the option as well. So when you say “pur STUR-peez” in a planning meeting, it helps to know the phrase isn’t available on every form you’ll sign.