Death of Contingent Beneficiary
In a case where the spouse is named as the primary beneficiary and the four children are named as contingent beneficiaries, what happens if one of the contingent beneficiaries predeceases? What can be done to insure that the share or percentage that was to be given to that contingent beneficiary now goes to his or her spouse or children?
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Tue, 2010-05-18 21:50
A “per stirpes” designation after the name of each contingent beneficiary would take care of the beneficiary’s children, but to take care of the spouse a customized beneficiary wording would be needed, eg ” Child X, or in the event Child X predeceases (owner), the surviving spouse of Child X, or if the surviving spouse is no longer living, the issue of Child X”.