If some of my beneficiaries predecease me . . .

[Court Jester]

If I bequeath my estate to several beneficiaries to be divided equally between them and some of them predecease me, will my estate upon my death be divided equally between the survivors . . . or does something else happen to the dead beneficiaries' bequests?

[PallasAthena]

I assume you are in England

In general if one residuary beneficiary predeceases you their share is redistributed to the surviving residuary beneficiaries. Certain exceptions apply. See the explanation on this link (there are many other law firm sites dealing with this if you search).

https://myfamilylegacy.co.uk/what-ha...es-before-you/

Note that this is the legal default position if the Will says nothing about what happens in this situation. It is possible to write a Will to produce different outcomes if you wish.

[Court Jester]

Yes, I'm in England. Thanks very much for your help.

[atticus]

Hold on.

If any of these beneficiaries are your children, including legally adopted children, and they predecease you leaving children, their share passes to their children. s33 Wiils Act 1837.

[PallasAthena]

Yes, that's the exception I was referring to in my post and on the link I gave - I should probably have given more detail to emphasise it.