Also known as: or form · or-form · disjunctive form
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A method of expressing alternative future interests in a will or other donative transfer by using the disjunctive word or. This form creates an unrestricted condition of survival that extinguishes the primary future interest whenever the primary beneficiary fails to survive the distribution date.
Odin Obeng's will leaves his ranch to his son or, if the son does not survive, to his daughter. When the son dies before distribution, the primary interest ends immediately under the unrestricted survival condition created by the or form, so the daughter takes the ranch outright.
Oriana Oberman creates a trust that gives income to her niece or, if the niece does not survive the termination date, to a charity. Because the gift uses the or form, the niece's interest is extinguished upon her death before termination even though the charity is not yet entitled to take, sending the property through the niece's estate.
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The or form extinguishes the primary future interest as soon as the primary beneficiary fails to survive the distribution date.
The or form creates an unrestricted condition of survival while the supplanting form creates a restricted condition that requires both the primary beneficiary's death and the substitutionary beneficiary's entitlement before the primary interest ends.
The future interest passes through the estate of the primary beneficiary rather than to the substitutionary beneficiary or the grantor's heirs.