Succession Act 1965 section 97

Devise of estate tail not to lapse where inheritable issue survives

Section 97 dealt with the rule that a devise (a gift of real property by will) of an estate tail would not lapse merely because the beneficiary died before the testator, provided that inheritable issue of that beneficiary survived the testator.

• This section addressed estates tail — a historical form of land ownership that passed automatically to a person's direct descendants in a fixed line of inheritance.
• Where a person was left an estate tail by will but died before the testator, the gift would not automatically fail (lapse) if the deceased beneficiary left inheritable issue (descendants who could inherit under the entail) who survived the testator.
• The practical effect was to preserve the intended succession of the property through the bloodline, even where the named beneficiary predeceased the will-maker.
• This section was amended by the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009, Schedule 2, Part 5, which reformed and largely abolished the concept of estates tail in Irish law.

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