What happens if two people die at the same time in Ontario — whose estate gets what?

When two people die in the same accident or circumstances and it cannot be determined who died first, Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act provides a default rule: the deaths are presumed to have occurred in order of seniority — the older person is presumed to have died first. This is sometimes called the "commorientes" rule.

The practical effect is that the younger person's estate is administered as if they survived the older person. If two spouses die together and the younger was the beneficiary of the older's will, the younger's estate inherits from the older's estate — even momentarily — before passing on according to the younger's will or the intestacy rules.

Many well-drafted wills address this situation directly by including a survivorship clause — a requirement that a beneficiary must survive the testator by a certain period (commonly 30 days) to inherit. If the beneficiary does not survive the testator by that period, the gift lapses and passes to an alternate beneficiary or falls into the residue. This prevents the circular and potentially messy outcome where two estates inherit from each other in quick succession.

If you are updating your will, asking your lawyer about a survivorship clause is a sensible step, particularly if you and your primary beneficiary could conceivably die in the same event.