Per stirpes is a Latin phrase meaning “by branches,” and in a will, trust, or beneficiary form it tells whoever is distributing your estate to split it into equal shares at the generation below you, with each share staying inside that person’s family line. The practical effect: if one of your named beneficiaries dies before you do, their share does not get absorbed by your other beneficiaries. It passes down to their children instead.
That single rule is why the term matters. Choosing per stirpes, choosing something else, or saying nothing at all can be the difference between your grandchildren inheriting and your grandchildren getting nothing.
How the Division Actually Works
Start at the first generation below you. Your estate splits into equal shares there, one share per person in that generation who is either alive or has living descendants. Each share then belongs to that branch and travels down it as needed.
A concrete example. You have three children. All three are alive when you die, so the estate splits into thirds and each child receives one-third. The per stirpes language is sitting there, but it never has to do any work.
Now change one fact. Your oldest child died two years before you, leaving two children of their own. The estate still splits into thirds at your children’s generation, because that branch still exists. Your two living children each receive their one-third. The deceased child’s one-third is reserved for their branch and splits between the two grandchildren, so each grandchild receives one-sixth. Nobody absorbs the deceased child’s share.
The same logic keeps going down the family tree. If one of those grandchildren had also died but left a child, the great-grandchild would step into the grandchild’s spot and take that share. The branching continues until every share lands on a living person.
What Happens When a Beneficiary Dies Before You
This is the problem per stirpes is built to solve. When a named beneficiary predeceases you, the designation automatically routes that beneficiary’s share to their descendants. The will does not need to be amended. The executor does not pick where the money goes. The instruction is already in the document.
There is one edge case worth understanding. If a beneficiary dies before you and leaves no descendants, their branch is extinct. The share does not sit in limbo and it does not go to the executor’s discretion. It typically gets redistributed among the remaining branches. If you had three children, one died childless, and the other two survived, the estate effectively splits in half rather than in thirds. Exact mechanics depend on your will’s wording and your state’s law, but an empty branch cannot hold a share.
Per Stirpes vs. Per Capita
Per capita is the main alternative, and the two produce very different outcomes in the same family.
Use the earlier example again: three children, your oldest predeceases you leaving two grandchildren. Under per stirpes, your two surviving children each receive one-third and the two grandchildren split the remaining third, one-sixth apiece. Under per capita designated to your children, the deceased child’s share disappears because that child is gone. Your two surviving children each receive one-half. The grandchildren get nothing.
The choice comes down to what you actually want. Per stirpes keeps each family branch’s proportional share intact no matter how many people are in it. Per capita treats only the living, named generation and ignores what is below. Many parents assume their grandchildren would be taken care of automatically if their own child died first, and that assumption is only correct if the document says per stirpes or something equivalent.
Strict Per Stirpes vs. Modern Per Stirpes
States do not all read “per stirpes” the same way, and the difference shows up when every member of your first generation is already gone.
Strict (English) Per Stirpes
Traditional per stirpes always divides at the children’s generation, even if every child has died. Say you had two children and both predeceased you. The estate still splits in half at that first level. One child’s descendants share one half, the other child’s descendants share the other half. If one child left four kids and the other left one, the only grandchild on one side gets 50% while each grandchild on the other side gets 12.5%.
Modern (Modified) Per Stirpes
The modern approach skips down to the first generation that actually has a living member and starts the division there. With both children dead, the estate would be divided based on the five grandchildren rather than at the parents’ level. Results across the same generation tend to be more even, though the exact math depends on who is alive and who left descendants.
Which version applies to a will that just says “per stirpes” depends on where you live. If the distinction matters for your family, write out the method you want rather than relying on the two-word phrase to carry it.
Who Counts as a Descendant
“Descendants” (sometimes written as “issue”) covers your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. Biological and legally adopted children both count as descendants by default in every state. Once an adoption is finalized, the adopted child has the same inheritance rights as a biological child for per stirpes purposes.
Stepchildren and step-grandchildren are the exclusion that trips up blended families. Unless you legally adopted the stepchild or you name them individually in the document, they fall outside “descendants” and “issue” and will not receive anything under a per stirpes clause. If you want a stepchild included, name them directly.
Where You’ll See Per Stirpes in Writing
The phrase shows up in three places: wills, trusts, and beneficiary designation forms for financial accounts.
In a will or trust, a typical clause reads something like: “I leave my estate to my children in equal shares, and if any child predeceases me, that child’s share shall pass to their descendants by right of representation.” Either “per stirpes” or “by right of representation” works, and courts generally understand both to invoke the same idea, though some states draw a technical line between the two.
If a will names beneficiaries but says nothing about what happens when one dies first, the gift to that deceased beneficiary may lapse entirely. Most states have anti-lapse statutes that redirect certain gifts to the deceased beneficiary’s descendants, but their scope varies, and relying on one rather than stating your intent is a gamble you do not need to take.
On beneficiary forms for retirement accounts and life insurance policies, per stirpes works the same way it does in a will. Name your three children as equal beneficiaries per stirpes on an IRA or 401(k), and if one dies before you, that child’s share passes to their own children instead of being split among the surviving two. Some forms use a checkbox, others require you to write it in.
Two cautions on beneficiary forms. First, not every account accepts a per stirpes designation. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has stated that per stirpes designations are unacceptable on Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance beneficiary forms.1OPM.gov. What Is a Per Stirpes Designation? Can I Use One When Designating Beneficiaries for My FEGLI Life Insurance? If your account will not take the designation, you have to name contingent beneficiaries individually to get the same result. Second, the beneficiary form on an account overrides your will for that asset. If your will says per stirpes but the retirement account form names only your three children with no contingent language, the account follows the form.
Tax Treatment When Grandchildren Inherit
A per stirpes distribution that routes assets down to grandchildren because their parent died first raises a federal tax question. The generation-skipping transfer tax applies at a flat 40% rate to transfers that skip a generation, and grandchildren are normally treated as “skip persons” who trigger it.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2641 – Applicable Rate
Federal law has a built-in exception for the exact per stirpes scenario. When a grandchild inherits because their parent (your child) died before the transfer, the grandchild moves up a generation for tax purposes and is no longer a skip person.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2651 – Generation Assignment A typical per stirpes distribution to grandchildren of a deceased child will not trigger the generation-skipping transfer tax.
The exception only works if the grandchild’s parent is already dead when the transfer happens. Deliberately leaving assets to grandchildren while their parent is alive is a different situation, and the generation-skipping transfer tax applies unless you have remaining lifetime exemption to cover it. For 2026, the basic estate and gift tax exclusion amount is $15,000,000.4IRS. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Most estates fall well below that threshold and owe nothing regardless; larger estates should plan around it.