What happens if a beneficiary dies after the testator?

If a beneficiary dies after the testator, the gift the testator had designated to that beneficiary in their will does not necessarily pass on to the beneficiary’s estate. Instead, the gift is distributed either according to the alternate gift structure the testator had established in the will, or if there is no alternate structure, is distributed to the other beneficiaries mentioned in the will. If the alternate plan involves the deceased beneficiary’s own children, or the testator is not aware of who those children are, the gift may pass to the beneficiaries in the line of intestate succession, meaning it goes to the testator’s surviving relatives, in the order established by the Massachusetts Probate Court. If the deceased beneficiary predeceases the testator, that beneficiary’s descendants are to receive the gift and it is not counted in the residuary estate, the total of all the testator’s assets. The distribution of the gift to the deceased beneficiary’s children will depend on whether the will was written prior to the enactment of the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act of 1974, or the “anti-lapse” statute. The anti-lapse statute prevents certain gifts from lapsing if the beneficiary dies first. If the will was written after the statute was enacted, the gift may still pass to the beneficiary’s children if the testator had included a clause in the will that mentions this outcome.

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What happens if a beneficiary dies after the testator?

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