Who dies first.

[Vimto]

In the event of two members of the same family dying very close together where it is difficult or impossible to determine which person died first , say, a married couple in an air crash or even a suicide pact, what is the protocol for assuming who died first.? Is it based on age or some other factor? It may be of paramount importance for inheritance tax reasons.

[ruby27]

The older one I was advised when drawing up a will.

[helpmetoo]

yes i agree, the older died first,
imagine the scenario,
both parties have a simple will leaving everything to spouse,
both die simultaneously so all of the older persons estate goes to the other and then the vultures descend,
get advice and build in a survival period clause,
along the lines of if my spouse survives past me by 28 days all to spouse, otherwise the split is as follows...

[Mataaan]

I Think its the older person aswell,

[Gmcd01]

It is the elder to die first, known as the Commorientes principle. America has the 'uniform civil deaths act' whereby the land is split equally between the people, although in the UK the estate goes to either the younger victim, or the remaining joint tenants under the principle of survivorship.

[themas]

If they died without making wills the law assumes that they died at the same instant unless one died 28 days or more after the other. The intestacy rules then apply on the basis that neither spouse comes into the distribution of the estate.