Pure per stirpes is a system of determining the descendants of individuals who have died intestate. Under a per stirpes (Latin for “by branch”) system, when an individual dies intestate, any part of the intestate estate not passing to the decedent’s surviving spouse is passed to the descendants of the decedent.
In the pure per stirpes system, the estate is divided into primary shares at the generation nearest to the decedent (the decedent’s children). If a person from the “primary share” generation has predeceased the decedent, that one primary share is further divided by the number of people at the next generation (the decedent’s grandchildren). Any deceased children who have no living descendants are disregarded in determining the number of primary shares. However, if the decedent has no living children, the number of primary shares is still determined at the children's generation instead of skipping to the grandchildren's generation.
A pure per stirpes system differs from a modern or modified per stirpes system, where the primary share generation is determined by the generation closest to the decedent with a living member. Thus, the primary share generation could be the decedent’s grandchildren if all the decedent’s children predeceased them.
For example:
- A has two children, named C and D
- C has two children named L and K
- D has one child named S
If C and D die before A does, and A dies intestate in a pure per stirpes jurisdiction, L and K would each receive ¼ of the estate while S would receive ½ of the estate because the division occurs on the child level even though no children are living.
If the same situation occurred in a modified per stirpes jurisdiction, L, K, and S would each receive ⅓ of the estate because the distribution is based upon the grandchild level.
[Last updated in March of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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