Per Stirpes: plain-English guide for Irish probate
A distribution rule meaning by the branch: where a beneficiary has died before the deceased, their share passes to their own children rather than being redistributed among surviving beneficiaries.
What it means, in plain English
Per stirpes is a Latin phrase used in Irish succession law meaning literally by the stocks or by the branch. Where a beneficiary would have inherited but has died before the deceased, their share passes down to their own children in equal parts, rather than being absorbed back into the pool for the surviving beneficiaries. The rule applies automatically in intestacy and often by default in wills.
Per Stirpes in Irish probate practice
The per-stirpes distribution is written into Section 67 of the Succession Act 1965 for intestate estates. If the deceased leaves children but one of the children has already died leaving grandchildren, the grandchildren take their parent's share between them. The opposite rule, per capita (by the head), would instead redistribute the deceased child's share equally among the surviving siblings and ignore the grandchildren; this is not Irish law under intestacy. Most well-drafted Irish wills mirror the per-stirpes rule by specifying that a child's share passes to their children in equal shares if the child predeceases the testator. Where a will is silent on this point, Section 98 of the Succession Act 1965 provides a default per-stirpes lapse rule for children of the testator, preventing the gift from failing outright. The rule matters most where siblings have had different numbers of children, because a per-capita redistribution would favour smaller families.
Worked example
Michael dies without a will, survived by his daughter Aine (three children), his son Sean (one child), and the children of his deceased daughter Orla (two children, Rory and Grace). The estate is 300,000 euro. Under per-stirpes distribution, the estate is divided into three equal branches of 100,000 euro: Aine takes her 100,000 euro, Sean takes his 100,000 euro, and Orla's share of 100,000 euro is split equally between Rory and Grace at 50,000 euro each. Aine's and Sean's children get nothing because their own parents are alive. If per-capita distribution had applied instead (it does not in Ireland), the five living beneficiaries would have received 60,000 euro each and Orla's branch would have been penalised.
The statutory position
Section 67(3) Succession Act 1965 codifies per-stirpes distribution for intestate estates. Section 98 provides the equivalent default rule for children of a testator where a will is silent. The rule is deeply embedded in Irish succession practice and is the default assumption where no contrary intention is expressed.
Related terms in this glossary
Related reading
How ProbatePack handles Per Stirpes
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