Per stirpes · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 1-2.14 Per stirpes
A per stirpes disposition or distribution of property is made to persons who take as issue of a deceased ancestor in the following manner:
The property so passing is divided into as many equal shares as there are (i) surviving issue in the generation nearest to the deceased ancestor which contains one or more surviving issue and (ii) deceased issue in the same generation who left surviving issue, if any. Each surviving member in such nearest generation is allocated one share. The share of a deceased issue in such nearest generation who left surviving issue shall be distributed in the same manner to such issue.
A per stirpes distribution first divides property into equal shares for each surviving descendant in the nearest generation containing a survivor and for each deceased descendant in that generation who left descendants. Each survivor there takes 1 share; each deceased person’s share passes down the same way to that person’s descendants. ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Surrogate's Court in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Surrogate's Court: Court Rules & the EPTL; Volume 5 — Your Career: Surrogate's Court in Plain English.