united-states pennsylvania inheritance probate
Does the death of a party involved in the execution of a will mean that they do not inherit?
<p>A friend of mine is engaged in a lengthy probate process over her inheritance from her parents with her brother as the executor. Without getting into details of why it's been so protracted, it's been going on for well over a year now with all of the attendant drama and legal measures. Her health has been poor, and recently she's been worried that she might die (with attendant nightmares of parties involved plotting to hasten the situation), effectively turning the entire inheritance over to the remaining sibling (which yes, the inheritance wouldn't do her much good there, but her plans, including her will, involves disbursing her assets to various friends and charitable interests).</p>
<p>So, my central question is, does the death of an inheritor during the probate process result in their &quot;share&quot; reverting to the remaining inheritors? This is a Pennsylvania case, for the sake of state law.</p>

<p>The common law rule was that to inherit you have to outlive the decedent from whom you are inheriting, and that the inheritance would pass to your estate if you died before distribution was made.</p>
<p>Statutes in some jurisdictions provide that someone must survive for a longer period than that to be eligible to inherit, often five days, in order to simplify the factual issues in the common situation of a joint accident. Pennsylvania <a href="https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/intestate-succession-pennsylvania.html#:%7E:text=Survivorship%20period.,receive%20any%20of%20your%20property." rel="nofollow noreferrer">is one such state</a>.</p>
<p>But a will or trust can deviate from the default rule, and in U.S. practice, driven by federal estate tax laws, it isn't uncommon to require someone to survive the decedent by at least six months to inherit from them under an instrument.</p>
<p>In this case, where more than a year has passed since the death, the inheritance would not lapse for these reasons.</p>
<p>It also isn't uncommon for a trust, either established during life, or established at death, to provide that distributions from the trust are made at the discretion of the trustee and to require in those cases that the person receiving the distribution also be living at the time of the distribution. These trusts also typically contain specific provisions that spell out the rights of a beneficiary who dies before the trust is fully distributed.</p>

<p>No, at least not in the jurisdictions I know. If she dies now, it's the same as if she had died before the parents: Her share will be distributed as if she had lived, which means it will primarily go to her children and spouse, or to whoever she had given it in her will. If she does not have children (and has not written a will on her own), then, depending on local inheritance laws, the assets may fall back to her siblings, which could then be the group that started the fight.</p>
<p><strong>Clarification</strong></p>
<p>Jurisdiction: <a href="/questions/tagged/switzerland" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;switzerland&#39;" rel="tag">switzerland</a> (the link to the pensylvania website in the other answer interestingly shows very similar rules)</p>
<p>Let's assume this family tree:</p>
<pre><code>
Alice -o- Bob
       |
   --- | -------------
   |        |        |
Charlie   David     Me  -o- Eli
                         |
                        Frank

</code></pre>
<p>Also assume no one has left an explicit will.</p>
<p>Now if the later of the parents (Alice or Bob) dies, and all their children are still alive, they inherit in equal parts. But if I had died before Alice the share that would have gone to me is going to Eli and Frank. Charlie and David get the same amount of our parents' assets, regardless of whether I live at the time of their death or not. (Unless of course, I had neither children nor a spouse)</p>
