News and Insights

Many of us were shocked when reports first came out that Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, had tragically and suddenly been discovered dead at their home. At the time it was thought it was in one incident, but it has since been discovered that his wife likely died some days before him from separate natural causes.

I recently read about their Wills, and this is an example of a situation that arises more often than people think, when spouses die very closely together or at the same time. In this brief article I will focus not on the law that would govern Mr Hackman’s estate, but on what would happen had the events happened in Jersey to Jersey domiciled people.  
 
His Will
According to news reports (which I accept may not all be correct, but still provide a useful example for this article), Gene, left a Will leaving everything to Betsy. It is not yet confirmed if there was a substitution clause.
 
In the circumstances, his Will would have no effect as the investigation has now proven that Betsy died several days before him. A Will only comes into effect when a person (the testator) dies, so any named beneficiary who died before the testator would no longer receive any gift in the Will. The effect of this would be that Betsy’s estate does not inherit from his. What then happens to the estate depends on the wording of the Will. If Gene had named alternate beneficiaries in the event that Betsy predeceased him, then it would pass to them, if not then there would be a partial intestacy. This means that despite Gene having a Will, the assets would be distributed in accordance with the laws of intestacy in Santa Fe New Mexico (where he was domiciled). In this situation it would usually be to children. 
 
Had the situation been the other way round, and Gene had died before Betsy, then the gift would be valid, meaning that the assets would pass into her estate to be distributed in accordance with her Will. Interestingly had they died in Jersey at the same time, or in circumstances where it is not possible to determine who died first then Court may make a declaration of simultaneous death, through the law on “Commorientes” in Articles 9 and 10 of the Wills and Successions Jersey law. This would include a representation being made to the Court for a decision on who died first, and the Court can declare if one person survived the other or if the death was simultaneous. If there is no clear evidence and a declaration of simultaneous death is made, assets held in their own name (for both deceased persons) are distributed in accordance either with any beneficiary substitution clause contained in their Will, or in accordance with the laws of intestacy if no substitution clause exists.  
This is a different situation to some other jurisdictions, such as England, where the presumption can be that the younger person outlived the older. 
 
Another matter to take into account is joint accounts, in Jersey these are generally retained automatically by survivorship to the other co-owner on death. This means that any joint accounts would have vested with Gene’s estate at the moment Betsy died, regardless of what is in her Will. If, however a declaration of simultaneous death has been made by the court then the ownership of joint assets would be viewed as being equally held as “owners in common”. Simply put this means that the assets could be split equally between the estates of the joint holders.   
 
Lessons to be learned
 
This is an example of why alternate provisions in Wills are so important. We like to think that naturally younger people will live longer and that everything will happen in a predictable way, but life is not always like that. Unfortunately, accidents and illness can happen. When making your Will it is worth thinking what would happen if your primary beneficiaries, like your spouse, or even your children, died before you or at the same time as you in the same tragedy. Consider who you would like to inherit in those circumstances. You may also be keen for your spouse to inherit, but less keen if they die just after you and will see no benefit from the assets which will pass directly to their estate, or their heirs on intestacy. Some people chose to put in their Wills a clause that a spouse or child only receives a gift on the condition that they survive them for a certain amount of days. This can also be useful in some jurisdictions for tax purposes. It is also worth considering how assets such as joint accounts will pass under survivorship.
 
It appears that Betsy’s Will may have been better drafted for this eventuality. Reports state that she had a clause that Gene would need to survive her by 90 days to inherit from her, and that she had an alternate beneficiary of a trust if he did not. In the circumstances her assets would therefore pass to the trust which is set up for this purpose.   
    
Unfortunately tragedy’s can happen. We cannot stop this, but we can do our best to provide for various scenarios in our Wills to ensure our loved ones are cared for.