No one expects to pass away suddenly, and most people don’t expect to pass away at the same time as their spouse. However, this can happen, and it can create estate planning confusion and frustration. Estate plans tend not to take the possibility of two people who have left everything to one another passing away at the same time, but what’s known as a simultaneous death clause in your planning documents can help lay out a clear plan for what loved ones should do next if this happens. 

The majority of people with intertwined estates are married couples, but other family members may have connections, too. If both these family members were to pass away at the same time, for example, in a car accident, then an event like this can make things extremely complicated for the surviving loved ones.  A simultaneous death clause can help lay the groundwork for your estate planning in the event that both of you pass away at the same time. This is often used to avoid intestacy laws in New Jersey kicking in to determine where the assets will go, which removes the couple’s or family member’s desires from the equation.

When there is no such clause in your documents, probate courts in New Jersey can treat this situation by dispersing assets as though each of the two spouses had died first. This means that the wife’s heirs will get her assets and the husband’s heirs will get here.