This week's theme: terms from law. per stirpes (pur-STUR-peez) noun
A method of dividing an estate in which each branch of the descendants of a deceased person receives an equal share. [From Latin, literally "by roots" or "by stocks".] An example would be helpful. A man has three children A, B, and C, and at the time of his death, only A and B are alive. Per stirpes division of the property means that A receives one third, B receives one third, and the final one third share is equally divided among C's children. A different way to divide an estate is per capita (by heads) where each person receives equal share irrespective of how far down he or she lies in the family tree. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "When adding children [as beneficiaries in a will], beware the following trap: One child dies before you do and the whole IRA [Individual Retirement Account] goes to the others, meaning you've stiffed the offspring of the deceased child and possibly created a legal or family mess. You can avoid this (as well as avoid cutting out a child or grandchild born between the time you revise a form and your death) by using 'to my descendants per stirpes.'" Neil Weinberg and Matthew Swibel; Protect Your IRA; Forbes (New York); Nov 25, 2002. This newsletter is made possible in part by these sponsors: Earn Professional Certificates 100% ONLINE from Villanova University in Project Management, Six Sigma, IS Security, HR & more. http://VillanovaU.com/WS Got gas? If not, stay home and play Fibonaccio! The Trivia Game in Book Form 10% discount. http://patrickspress.com or see http://fibonaccio.blogspot.com Always find the right word with the Visual Thesaurus. Wordsmith readers save 10%. Try it free! http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?ad=aw&code=m7r ............................................................................ Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are -- chaff and grain together -- certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. -George Eliot (pen name of Mary Ann Evans), novelist (1819-1880) Send your comments to (words AT wordsmith.org). To unsubscribe, update address send gift subscription, etc., visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/per_stirpes.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/per_stirpes.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/per_stirpes.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
