Wills - What Happens If a Beneficiary Dies Before You?

It is always a good idea to think about what would happen to your estate if any of your beneficiaries that you have already named, died before you or are unable or unwilling to receive the benefit. If a beneficiary dies before you and is not a descendant of yours, the gift you have given to them will lapse. If you want the gift to go to his or her spouse or child in the event of his or her death before yours, you should state this in clearly in your Will. If a son or daughter of yours is going to inherit something of yours under your Will but dies before you and has left children, the gift which was meant to go to your children will then go automatically to their children, unless you have made a special provision in your Will stating otherwise.

If there is a cash legacy (a gift of money) made to a beneficiary in your Will, such as a specified amount of money to your son or daughter, or even a specific bequest (item of property or personal possession), there will be no problem if you state the item and the beneficiary's name. However, if these named beneficiaries die without having obtained their cash legacy or specific bequest, then the gift will revert back to the estate and become part of the residue of the estate, which will go towards the amount of the estate that the beneficiary who is receiving the residue of the estate will receive in the event of your death.

If the main beneficiary who is meant to be receiving the residue of the estate of the testator dies before the testator and is not the testators direct descendant, then that part of the residue of the testators estate will be left indisposed of. This is called partial intestacy. This is where the lapsed share is then dealt with under the intestacy rules. It is therefore advisable to name any alternative beneficiaries in your Will in case the main beneficiary cannot receive the vested interest and is the only residuary beneficiary named in the Will.

However, in the event that the beneficiary to the residue of your estate dies after you, but before the bequest is actually paid to them, the beneficiary's estate will still receive that bequest and therefore it will not revert back to the testator's estate and then distributed to other beneficiaries.

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