per stirpes
Meaning. By branches or stocks: descendants of a deceased heir together take the share that heir would have taken.
Distribution per stirpes treats each line of descent as a unit. The estate is first divided among the branches according to the heir at the head of each branch; the members of a branch then share that portion among themselves. It is the opposite of per capita distribution, where every heir counts equally.
The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 applies this rule to the children of a predeceased son or daughter, who together take their parent's share. Shia law distributes among descendants per stirpes; Hanafi law generally distributes per capita.
Example
The two children of the predeceased son took his one-third share per stirpes, getting one-sixth each.
In Indian law
- s.10, Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Rules 3 and 4: a branch takes the share of the predeceased heir)
See also
per capita · succession · class I heir · intestate
Read more in the study notes
- Succession to a Hindu male dying intestate (Family Law I - Hindu Law)
- Intestate succession: non-Parsis and Parsis (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
- Status of the unborn, minors, lunatics, drunken and dead persons (Jurisprudence)
- Securities transaction tax and the exclusion of securities from GST (Law of Taxation)