Death of Devisee or Legatee Before Death of Testator

1. Law
2. Tennessee Code
3. Wills
4. Construction, Operation and Effect
5. Death of Devisee or Legatee Before Death of Testator

1. Whenever the devisee or legatee or any member of a class to which an immediate devise or bequest is made, dies before the testator, or is dead at the making of the will, leaving issue that survives the testator, the issue shall take the estate or interest devised or bequeathed that the devisee or legatee or the member of the class, as the case may be, would have taken, had that person survived the testator, unless a different disposition thereof is made or required by the will.
2. Subsection (a) shall apply also to a revocable (living) trust that became irrevocable upon the death of its settlor or grantor. The surviving issue of a beneficiary who predeceased a settlor or grantor shall take the trust interest the beneficiary would have received had the beneficiary survived the settlor or grantor, unless the trust agreement provides otherwise.

Code 1858, § 2196 (deriv. Acts 1851-1852, ch. 180, § 3); Shan., § 3928; Code 1932, § 8134; Acts 1941, ch. 61, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 8134; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 32-306; Acts 1989, ch. 364, § 4; 1997, ch. 426, § 20.

Compiler's Notes. Acts 1997, ch. 426, § 26 provided that the amendments to this section by that act shall apply to all estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 1998, and to all wills, other documents and proceedings related thereto.

Cross-References. Inapplicability of provisions, revocation of will by divorce or annulment, §32-1-202.

Representation to be per stirpes, §31-2-106.

Textbooks. Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (4th ed., Phillips and Robinson), §§ 448, 455, 915, 989.

Tennessee Jurisprudence, 25 Tenn. Juris., Wills, §§ 137, 172.

Law Reviews.

Class Gifts of Future Interests: When is Survival Required? (Herman L. Trautman), 20 Vand. L. Rev. 1 (1967).

Joint and Mutual Wills in Tennessee — Validity, Contractual Limitations, and Effect on the Estate Tax Marital Deduction (Robert L. McMurray), 42 Tenn. L. Rev. 305 (1975).

Mutual and Strictly Reciprocal Wills in Tennessee (Edward Michael Ellis), 41 Tenn. L. Rev. 877 (1974).

Property Law — Wills — Effect of Lapsed Residuary Gifts in the State of Tennessee, 73 Tenn L. Rev. 711 (2006).

Testamentary Gifts of Future Interests: Is There an “Immediate” Problem with the Tennessee Antilapse Statute?, 17 Mem. St. U.L. Rev. 263 (1987).

The Tennessee Class Doctrine: A Spectre At The Bar, 22 Tenn. L. Rev. 943 (1951).

Wills — Anti-Lapse Statutes — Beneficiaries of Class Gift Dead at Will's Execution, 9 Vand. L. Rev. 577 (1956).

Wills — Construction — Gift Over on Death Without Issue When Specified Time for Taking Possession is Mentioned by Testator, 3 Vand. L. Rev. 345 (1950).

To Lapse or Not to Lapse: Does the Tennessee Antilapse Statute Further the Testator's Intent?, 50 U. Mem. L. Rev. 169 (Fall 2019).

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