New Jersey Statutes 3B:3-32. Requirement of survival by 120 hours; exceptions; survivorship with respect to future interests
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 3B:3-32
- Common disaster: A sudden and extraordinary misfortune that brings about the simultaneous or near-simultaneous deaths of two or more associated persons, such as husband and wife.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Governing instrument: means a deed, will, trust, insurance or annuity policy, account with the designation "pay on death" (POD) or "transfer on death" (TOD), security registered in beneficiary form with the designation "pay on death" (POD) or "transfer on death" (TOD), pension, profit-sharing, retirement or similar benefit plan, instrument creating or exercising a power of appointment or a power of attorney, or a dispositive, appointive, or nominative instrument of any similar type. See New Jersey Statutes 3B:1-1
- Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
b. If it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that one of two co-owners with right of survivorship survived the other co-owner by 120 hours, one-half of the property passes as if one had survived by 120 hours and one-half as if the other had survived by 120 hours.
c. If there are more than two co-owners and it is not established by clear and convincing evidence that at least one of them survived the others by 120 hours, the property passes in the proportion that one bears to the whole number of co-owners.
d. The 120 hour survival requirement of subsections a., b. and c. shall not apply if: (1) the will, trust agreement, or other governing instrument, contains some language applicable to the event dealing explicitly with simultaneous deaths or deaths in a common disaster, or requiring survival for a stated time period; (2) application would cause a non-vested property interest or power of appointment to be invalid under a rule against perpetuities concerning an interest created prior to the enactment of P.L. 1999, c. 159 (effective on July 8, 1999); or (3) it is established by clear and convincing evidence that application to multiple governing instruments would result in an unintended failure or duplication of a disposition.
e. For purposes of this section, “co-owners with right of survivorship” includes joint tenants, tenants by the entireties, and other co-owners of property or accounts held under circumstances that entitle one or more to the whole of the property or account on the death of the other or others.
To the extent this section is inconsistent with the “Uniform Simultaneous Death Law” (N.J.S. 3B:6-1 et seq.), the provisions of this section shall apply.
L.1981, c.405, s.3B:3-32, eff. May 1, 1982; amended 2004, c.132, s.27.