EPTL § 2-1.2

Issue to take per capita, per stirpes or by representation · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 2-1.2 Issue to take per capita, per stirpes or by representation

(a) Instruments executed prior to September first, nineteen hundred ninety-two. Whenever a disposition of property is made to "issue", such issue, if in equal degree of consanguinity to their common ancestor, take per capita, but if in unequal degree, per stirpes, unless a contrary intention is expressed.

(b) Instruments executed on or after September first, nineteen hundred ninety-two. Whenever a disposition of property is made to "issue", such issue take by representation as defined in 1-2.16, unless a contrary intention is expressed.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/2-1.2

In plain English

(a) For instruments signed before September 1, 1992, a gift to “issue” passes per capita when all are equally related to the common ancestor, and per stirpes when they are not, unless the instrument says otherwise.
(b) For instruments signed on or after September 1, 1992, a gift to “issue” passes by representation under § 1-2.16, unless contrary intent appears. ★

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.

In print

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.