What's the difference between per stirpes and per capita?
Posted by: dustin_white on May 13, 2011
When selecting beneficiaries for your IRA, there are many things that you must take into consideration. Do you want to name multiple primary beneficiaries? Who will you name as contingent beneficiaries? Should you name a Trust or other entity as your beneficiary? If you name a Trust as your beneficiary, are you limiting your spouse’s options? These are all important things to consider and discuss with your family and your CPA.
If you are naming multiple primary or contingent beneficiaries, you will need to decide if you want the money to be divided on a Per Stirpes or Per Capita basis. So what’s the difference?
Let’s say you have two primary beneficiaries and one of them is deceased at the time of your death, but you have not updated your beneficiary list. Would you want the deceased beneficiaries portion to terminate and go completely to the living beneficiary or would you want the deceased beneficiaries portion to go to the deceased’s heirs?
If the beneficiaries are to share in a distribution "per stirpes," then the living member in the class of beneficiaries who is closest in relationship to the person making the distribution will receive an equal share.
If the beneficiaries are to share in a distribution "per capita,
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If you have questions about this, please contact a CPA or Tax Attorney.