Full question:
What do the following phrases in a will mean: a) “share and share alike”; b) “per stripes”; c) and “per capita”?
- Category: Wills and Estates
- Date:
- State: New Hampshire
Answer:
“Per capita” is a Latin term meaning Latin for "by head," meaning to be determined by the number of people. It is also used in wills to indicate that each of the named beneficiaries should inherit equal shares of the estate. This is in contrast to a “per stirpes” division, in which each branch of the inheriting family inherits an equal share of the estate.
“Per stirpes” is a Latin term meaning "by roots," or by representation. The term is often used in wills and trusts to describe how to carry out a distribution when a beneficiary dies before the person whose estate is being divided. Under per stirpes distribution, children take among them the share which their parent would have taken had he survived the decedent. The children stand in a representative capacity to their parents. Share and share alike refers to the equal division of a benefit from an estate, trust, or gift, which includes the right of the survivors to divide the portion of any beneficiary who dies before receiving the gift. Example: John Doe wills his 2,000 shares of IBM stock "to my four nephews, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, share and share alike." Luke dies before Doe, so the 2,000 shares will be divided among the three surviving nephews.This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
