Stirpes is a legal concept related to the distribution of an estate or property that comes from the Latin word for “root” or “stocks.” In the context of legal affairs, stirpes determines how a property or estate is divided or distributed among the surviving beneficiaries of the decedent.
From a legal perspective, stirpes outlines how the estate will be divided among primary and distant heirs. This means that any primary order of heirs, such as children, are to inherit before distant heirs, such as a parent of the decedent, can receive any portion of the estate.
A common example to understand the concept of stirpes in action involves the case of a decedent passing away without appointing an executor of a will. In this example, the estate would be divided equally among each of her children and then those children would go on to pass the estate to their respective heirs equally according to stirpes.
Understanding how stirpes works is an important part of protecting the rights of distant heirs when it comes to the distribution of estates and therefore important for business professionals to understand. Knowing how an estate can be divided, as well as its implications on businesses can help legal professionals craft and/or interpret legal documents related to estate distribution.