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Per capita with representation, for Texas trustees

Sooner or later most trustees face the question: a beneficiary died before the settlor — who takes that share? The trust's own words control; where they say nothing, Texas's own rule is per capita with representation, not the strict per stirpes many instruments name. Here is the arithmetic of each system, side by side.

Affiché dans votre langue en traduction automatique, en attente de relecture par un locuteur natif. Les résumés des lois et l'original en anglais restent la source de référence.

The three systems, in one sentence each

Strict per stirpes — the rule many instruments name: the division always begins at the children’s generation, one share per surviving branch; a deceased child’s share splits among that child’s own descendants.

Per capita with representation — Texas’s default for an intestate share (Est. Code §201.101): the estate is divided into as many shares as there are living members of the nearest generation with a living member, plus deceased members of that generation who left descendants; a deceased member’s share passes to that member’s descendants.

The 1990 UPC rule (per capita at each generation) — divide at the nearest generation with survivors; the deceased members’ shares pool and split equally among the next generation’s takers, so equally-near relatives take equally.

The same family tree can come out differently under different governing words — which is why the instrument controls. Texas’s intestacy rule reaches a trust only where the instrument points to it or says nothing; a trust may say per stirpes, per capita, define its own scheme, or name alternate takers, and reading a particular instrument against the statute is licensed-attorney work.

Try the arithmetic yourself

Model a family shape — who is living, who left children — and see each system’s exact split. Two generations (children and grandchildren); this is the math of each rule, not a suggestion of which to use.

Child 1

Child 2

  • Grandchild 2.1

Child 3

  • Grandchild 3.1
  • Grandchild 3.2
Exact shares under each system for the family modeled above — the systems DIVERGE for this shape
PersonStrict per stirpesPer capita w/ representation (TX default)UPC per capita at each generation
Child 11/3 (33.3%)1/3 (33.3%)1/3 (33.3%)
Grandchild 2.11/3 (33.3%)1/3 (33.3%)2/9 (22.2%)
Grandchild 3.11/6 (16.7%)1/6 (16.7%)2/9 (22.2%)
Grandchild 3.21/6 (16.7%)1/6 (16.7%)2/9 (22.2%)

Arithmetic only — the exact fractions each rule produces for the shape you modeled, with Texas’s default labeled as what Est. Code §201.101 provides for an intestate share. Not advice, and never a statement of which rule YOUR trust uses — the instrument’s own words decide that, and reading them is licensed-attorney work.

Le Centre d'apprentissage est de l'information générale sur la loi du Texas — pas un avis juridique, ni un substitut aux conseils d'un avocat du Texas agréé sur vos faits précis. TrusteeClear est un logiciel, pas un cabinet.