Also known as: per capita
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A method of distribution in which the property is divided into as many equal shares as there are surviving descendants in the nearest generation plus deceased descendants in that generation who left surviving issue, each survivor in the nearest generation taking one share and any remaining shares passing equally to the next generation.
Dr. Moore's trust directed clinic interests to her issue per capita at each generation. At distribution her son Megan survived and her daughter had predeceased leaving three grandchildren. The nearest generation produced two shares so Megan received one share while the three grandchildren divided the second share equally.
Texas distributed revenues from the Available School Fund on a per capita basis to local districts. Each district received an identical amount for every student counted in the district regardless of local property wealth or student need.
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State legislatures historically granted greater per capita representation to rural counties than to urban areas. Each rural resident therefore counted for more in apportionment calculations than each urban resident.
Federal law required per capita shares of certain tribal funds to be paid to enrolled members or their heirs. Each qualifying individual received an identical payment without regard to family size or generational distance.
Government reports compared per capita drug expenditures for persons over age sixty-five with expenditures for the general population. Each age group was assigned an average amount spent per individual member.
Congress assessed the impact of a federal statute by examining per capita restaurant patronage in affected communities. Each resident was counted equally when calculating average spending on meals away from home.
Under per capita at each generation the estate divides into shares equal to the number of surviving descendants in the nearest generation plus deceased descendants in that generation who left surviving issue. Each survivor in the nearest generation takes one share and remaining shares pass equally to the next generation. Per stirpes instead creates shares at the level of the ancestor's children and subdivides only within each deceased child's line.
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The default rule distributes the property among living class members at the distribution date in the shares they would receive under intestate succession if the designated ancestor had died intestate at that time.
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No. The minor grandchild remains a surviving descendant entitled to a share because no statute disqualifies a descendant solely on the basis of foster care placement.
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A parent-child relationship extends equally to every child regardless of the parents' marital status so a qualifying nonmarital child receives the same per capita share as marital descendants.
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…reapportionment up to date, even where state constitutions in terms require it. In particular, the pattern of according greater per capita representation to rural, relatively sparsely populated areasthe same pattern which finds expression in various state constitutional provisions, and which has been given effect in England…