In Matter of Gulbenkian (9 NY2d 363, 174 NE2d 481 [1961]) the Court of Appeals construed a will in which the decedent bequeathed the remainder of a trust fund to his two brothers, "Badrig Gulbenkian and Harutune Gulbenkian, in equal shares and their several descendants per stirpes" (id. at 368.) One of the questions presented to the court was whether the language created a substitutionary gift in the event that the brothers did not survive the life beneficiary. The court stated that the language used by the testator could be read as an indication of the decedent's awareness that his named brothers might not survive, and found that the addition of the words "and their several descendants, per stirpes" reflected the decedent's intention that the share of a brother who predeceased leaving issue would pass to his descendants (id. at 370).