In a majority-rule jurisdiction, if T's residuary estate to 'my nieces,' with E and F alive; G predeceased leaving X; H predeceased with no descendants, how will residuary be distributed?

• A. E and F
• B. E, F, and X
• C. X
• D. E, F, X, and Y

Answer: (B)

Kicking off with the idea that a gift to a class, like nieces, is treated with representation in a majority-rule system. When the will says “to my nieces,” the share is allocated among living nieces, and the portion that would have gone to any niece who dies before the testator passes to that deceased niece’s issue. This is the representation principle at work.

Here, E and F are alive and are part of the class, so they take. G, a niece who predeceased, left a child X; under the representation rule, G’s intended share passes to her issue, so X receives that portion. H predeceased with no descendants has no one to take, so nothing goes to that branch. Put together, the residuary goes to E, F, and X, in effect reflecting the shares of the living class members and the issue of any predeceased class members.