Will Anti-Lapse and Substitute Gifts in Pennsylvania
At a glance
| Instruments and gifts covered | Will devises and bequests, whether named or in a class (§ 2514(9)). |
|---|---|
| Which devisees qualify | Testator's child or other issue, brother or sister, or brother's or sister's child (§ 2514(9)). |
| Death or failure trigger | Named beneficiary fails to survive testator; class rule also tests members when gift takes effect in enjoyment (§ 2514(5), (9)). |
| Descendant survival period | Issue must survive testator under paragraph (9); class-member issue must be living when class gift takes effect (§ 2514(5), (9)). |
| Who takes and how | Surviving issue take deceased ancestor's share per stirpes; sibling branches subject to spouse/issue priority (§ 2514(9)). |
| Class gifts | Protected named or class members covered; other classes close at enjoyment and then-living issue of dead members take per stirpes (§ 2514(5), (9)). |
| Failed gift and residue | Uncovered failed nonresiduary gift joins residue; uncovered failed residuary share passes proportionally to other residuary beneficiaries (§ 2514(10)–(11)). |
| Contrary intent and survival words | Statutory construction yields to contrary intent in the will; sibling-branch exception applies even when issue survive (§ 2514 intro., (9)). |
| Alternative gifts and appointments | Contrary will terms can displace § 2514 defaults; paragraph (9) addresses devises and bequests, leaving appointment treatment undecided. |
| Trust and nonprobate reach | A will may give property to a separate trust under § 2515; § 2514's will construction does not decide that trust's beneficiary succession. |
Requirements one by one
Covered relatives and the sibling-branch limit
Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2514(9), a will gift to the testator's child or other issue, brother or sister, or a sibling's child does not lapse merely because that beneficiary failed to survive the testator and left issue who did survive. Those issue take the ancestor's share per stirpes. There is a specific exception for the sibling and sibling's-child branch: the gift lapses to the extent it would pass to the testator's spouse or issue through the residue or intestacy.
Class gifts and timing
Section 2514(9) expressly includes protected beneficiaries named individually or as class members. For a class other than one described in § 2514(4), § 2514(5) identifies the class when the gift takes effect in enjoyment and lets the then-living issue of a dead member take that member's share per stirpes. This timing can differ from § 2514(9)'s testator-death survival test.
Failed gifts and residue
If the beneficiary's issue do not take under § 2514(9), § 2514(10) generally adds an ineffective nonresiduary gift to the will's residue, subject to its stated exceptions. Under § 2514(11), an uncovered ineffective residuary share passes to the other residuary beneficiaries in proportion to their shares.
A gift to an existing trust
Under § 2515, a will may give property to the trustee of a separately established trust. Unless the will provides otherwise, that property becomes part of the recipient trust's principal for administration and disposition under its own instrument. The quoted will-substitution provisions do not decide which individual takes under that separate trust.
What trips people up
The sibling-branch exception in § 2514(9) can defeat an otherwise qualifying substitution when the share would reach the testator's spouse or issue through the residue or intestacy. The statute's opening sentence also makes these construction rules subject to a contrary intent in the will (§ 2514).
Common questions
Does the rule include a niece or nephew named in the will? Yes. Section 2514(9) covers a child of the testator's brother or sister, subject to its sibling-branch exception.
What if the failed gift was outside the residue? Section 2514(10) generally puts an uncovered failed nonresiduary devise or bequest into the residue, if the will has one and no stated exception controls.
Statutes and sources
- 20 Pa.C.S. §§ 2514–2515. The source fields above provide verbatim excerpts, an official chapter URL and access dates.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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