Anti-lapse statute

What does Anti-lapse statute mean in American Law?

The definition of Anti-lapse statute in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

A statute enacted in most jurisdictions to prevent a legacy or devise to a named legatee or devisee from lapsing, i.e., failing, upon the named person’s death prior to the testator’s. The statutes provide that in that eventuality the named person shall be deemed to have died immediately after the testator, the effect of which will be to pass the legacy or devise to the named person’s heirs. Let us say, e.g., that T has a hated son S and a beloved nephew N. He leaves his entire estate to N, but N predeceases him. Under an anti-lapse statute, the estate will go to N’s heirs and not, as would otherwise be the case, to S. One can, however, by language in one’s

will, negative the operation of an anti-lapse statute.