Inheritance if beneficiary dies first?


Is the below true or does it need to state in the will that if the beneficiary dies first it automatically goes to their children? Certainly in my own Father and Mother's will it states specifically that if the beneficiary passes it goes to their children. This snippet from the Co Op Legal Services seems to indicate that its general law.
Could someone help? Of course you could ask to look at the will but that isnt really appropriate in this case.
Generally if a beneficiary dies before the deceased, the beneficiary's gift will lapse (fail) and they will not inherit anything from the deceased's estate. Whatever they were due to receive will fall back into the deceased's residuary estate to be redistributed. However the deceased may make provision in their will for the gift to be redirected in those circumstances stating that if the original beneficiary dies before them then alternative beneficiaries will receive the gift instead.
This can also happen under general law in the following circumstances:
- Where a will contains a gift to a child, adopted child or grandchild of the deceased, and
- The child dies before the deceased, leaving children of their own; and
- These children of the intended beneficiary are living at the time of the deceased's death
Then, unless the will expresses a contrary intention, the gift will take effect as a gift to the children of the initial beneficiary.
In effect, this means that if a parent leaves their child a gift in a Will and that child dies before the parent, leaving children of their own, then those children (the parent's grandchildren) will receive their parent's share.
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is the term you are looking for.
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