Q: Louisiana Law, what does it mean when the will says "estate shall pass to my descendants, per stirpes?"
My grandfather passed away and left his house to my Aunt(Daughter A). She passed away before he did. The will state, If "daughter A" predeceases me, then the bequest to her of the house shall lapse, and the house shall pass with the remainder of my estate to my descendants, per stirpes.
Daughter B, my mother, is still living. But she was told she must split everything with Daughter A's 4 children. Is this correct?
A:
"Per Stirpes" means "by branch" as opposed to "per capita" which would be by the person. So, in this case, daughter A's children receive her share and each gets 1/4 of it.
Daughter B would have to split the property with Daughter A's four children, but not evenly. Daughter B would get half and each of the four children would get 1/8.
1 user found this answer helpful
A: Correct and agree with practitioner below. In Louisiana, we refer to inheritances by "heads" - meaning, directly, or "by roots" (same as per stirpes) - meaning the heirs share equally in the intended share/percentage of the pre-deceased child. Given the language above, the legacy of the house alone lapses and goes into the residuary estate, which is to be split by the "descendants" per stirpes - which means that your mom gets her 1/2 share and the other 1/2 share of the residual estate (the remainder after any specific bequests) is divided by your Aunt's children (1/8 each).
1 user found this answer helpful
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