§ 15-11-712 — Simultaneous death; disposition of property

The rules of
construction in this section shall control in those situations not subject to the
control of section 15-11-702.

(1) Where the title to property or the devolution thereof depends upon
priority of death and there is no clear and convincing evidence that the persons
have died otherwise than simultaneously, the property of each person shall be
disposed of as if he or she had survived, except as provided otherwise in this
section.

(2) (a) If property is so disposed of that the right of a beneficiary to succeed
to any interest therein is conditional upon his or her surviving another person, and
both persons die, and there is no clear and convincing evidence that the two have
died otherwise than simultaneously, the beneficiary shall be deemed not to have
survived.

(b) If there is no clear and convincing evidence that two or more beneficiaries
have died otherwise than simultaneously and property has been disposed of in such
a way that at the time of their deaths each of such beneficiaries would have been
entitled to the property if he or she had survived the others, the property shall be
divided into as many equal portions as there were beneficiaries and these portions
shall be distributed respectively to those who would have taken in the event that
each of such beneficiaries had survived.

(3) Where there is no clear and convincing evidence that two joint tenants
have died otherwise than simultaneously, the property so held shall be distributed
one-half as if one had survived and one-half as if the other had survived. If there are
more than two joint tenants and all of them have so died, the property thus
distributed shall be in the proportion that one bears to the whole number of joint
tenants. For the purposes of this section, the term joint tenants includes owners
of property held under circumstances which entitled one or more to the whole of
the property on the death of the other or others.

(4) Where a husband and wife have died leaving community property and
there is no clear and convincing evidence that they have died otherwise than
simultaneously, one-half of all the community property shall pass as if the husband
had survived, and as if said one-half were his separate property, and the other one-half thereof shall pass as if the wife had survived, and as if said other one-half were
her separate property.

(5) Where the insured and the beneficiary in a policy of life or accident
insurance have died and there is no clear and convincing evidence that they have
died otherwise than simultaneously, the proceeds of the policy shall be distributed
as if the insured had survived the beneficiary; except that, if the policy is
community property of the insured and his or her spouse, and there is no alternative
beneficiary, or no alternative beneficiary except the estate or personal
representative of the insured, the proceeds shall be distributed as community
property.

(6) This section shall not apply in the case of wills, living trusts, deeds, or
contracts of insurance or any other situation where provision is made for
distribution of property different from the provisions of this section or where
provision is made for a presumption as to survivorship which results in a distribution
of property different from that here provided.

Legislative History

Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1022, � 3, effective July 1, 1995.