Definition - By Representation
June 22, 2009
To follow up the definition of per stirpes, our next term is by representation. Again, this term is used to tell us attorneys how the children of a deceased named beneficiary should take their inheritance. Again, a numerical example is the best explanation.
Back to our previous hypothetical:a person (lets call him T) dies, having had three children during his lifetime. Let’s call the children A, B, & C. Now, suppose that A and B died before T, and A left two children (A1 and A2), and B left three children (B1, B2 and B3) So, what does everybody get under a distribution by representation?
Under a distribution by representation, C takes one third, and A1, A2, B1, B2, and B3 share the rest, or two fifteenths each. The defining feature of a distribution by representation is that heirs of the same degree of relationship to T, receive equal shares of the estate. Since A1, A2, B1, B2, and B3 are all grandchildren of T, they receive equal shares.