There are three conditions which may occur to cause a legacy to be 'lost', and not take place. The first is by abatement. Abatement is the proportional reduction of shares to beneficiaries if the estate does not have enough assets to pay the shares in full. In estate planning, the debts of the estate must first be paid before any assets can be distributed, and sometimes property is sold to meet these debts. When a specific gift is sold to pay off a debt, it will abate the gift. When an estate is short of cash and legacies are used to pay off the debts, the rule is that general legacies pay off the debts first. A specific legacy will not be abated unless the general legacies cannot pay all the debts.
The second condition would be ademption, and occurs when the particular property cannot be given to the beneficiary, because it was destroyed, sold, or given away between the time that the will was written and the time of the testator's death.
The third condition for a lost legacy would be by lapse. If the legatee dies before the testator, or before a certain condition or period of time occurred for him to receive the bequest, then the legacy is said to have 'lapsed'.
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