SolvedTSEM7845 | Deceased persons: intestacy: Scotland - division of the estate
From HM Revenue & Customs · Trusts, Settlements and Estates Manual
No surviving kin
Where a person dies intestate and without leaving kin entitled to his/her estate, the estate passes to the Crown as ultimus haeres (ultimate heir).
Definitions
Per capita means by the head
Per stirpes means by descent. It is inherited through their parent and not by their own right.
Where property is divided per capita, it is divided into as many shares as there are children.
Where it is divided per stirpes, the share that would have fallen to the predeceasing parent, if alive, is divided equally among their children.
‘Child’ and ‘children’ include natural children (issue), and a child or children adopted by the deceased, but do not include stepchildren.