Pure per stirpes is a system of determining the descendants of individuals who have died intestate. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the decedent’s surviving spouse is passed to the descendants of the decedent. In the pure per stirpes system, the estate is divided into primary shares at the generation nearest to the decedent (the decedent’s children). If a person from the “primary share” generation has predeceased the decedent, that one primary share is further divided by the number of people at the next generation (the decedent’s grandchildren). Any deceased children who have no living descendants are disregarded in determining the number of primary shares. However, if the decedent has no living children, the number of primary shares is still determined at the children generation instead of skipping to the grandchildren generation.
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