Succession Act 1965 section 98

Gifts to children or other issue who leave issue living at testator's death

Section 98 deals with what happens when a testator's child or other descendant, who was named as a beneficiary in the will, dies before the testator but leaves behind their own living descendants.

• A gift in a will to a child or descendant of the testator does not automatically fail (lapse) simply because that beneficiary dies before the testator.
• The gift is preserved provided the deceased beneficiary left descendants of their own who are still alive when the testator dies.
• The rule applies whether the gift was made to the beneficiary individually or as a member of a class (for example, "to all my children"), and whether it was a direct gift or made through a power of appointment exercised in the will.
• The testator can override this rule by including a contrary intention in the will.