Multiple beneficiaries · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 7-5.7 Multiple beneficiaries
(a) Whenever any proceeds of a trust account would pass pursuant to section 7-5.2 to two or more beneficiaries, such proceeds shall pass to such beneficiaries in equal proportions, unless the terms of the trust provide otherwise.
(b) Whenever any proceeds of a trust account would pass pursuant to section 7-5.2 to two or more beneficiaries, and one or more of the beneficiaries predeceases the depositor, such proceeds shall pass to the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries in equal proportions, unless the terms of the trust provide otherwise.
When trust-account proceeds pass to 2 or more beneficiaries, they take equal shares unless the trust says otherwise. ★ If a beneficiary dies before the depositor, the surviving beneficiaries divide the proceeds equally unless different terms apply.
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.