Simultaneous demise of married couple. What would happen next?

[NotMyRealName]

Let's say a married couple , with adult children ,with separate but mirror-like wills ( joint and separate assets willed solely to each other), die in a singular event. It would be a less likely, but not totally an unlikely event, I believe. But, what would happen next in relation to executorship, probate , inheritance, etc. Should/can a clause be inserted in their respective wills to account for this?

 

[DannyBoyD]

Simple answer is yes, a well drafted will should account for one or both deaths.

Also a point on appointing an executor; I'm currently helping someone who had agreed to be an exec decades ago and is now into their 80s. Perfectly compos mentis, but with so much being online they are finding it a struggle.

So look for your exec in the generation below you, not amongst your peers.

 

[kalooki]

The legislation generally covers this. If it is not possible to determine who died first, then each one is assumed to have predeceased the other.

So for example if a house is jointly owned, then rather than one briefly owning the whole house, and it passing to their decendants, in both cases it is assumed the other predeceased them, so their "half" becomes part of their seperate estates.

This is in the SA 1965.