A husband and wife die in the same car accident, the husband insured under a $500,000 life policy with the wife as primary beneficiary and their adult son as contingent beneficiary. The policy contains a standard 'Common Disaster' clause (130-day survival period). The wife dies first by 2 hours; the son survives. Where does the death benefit go?

Explanation

A Common Disaster Clause (also called a 'time clause' or 'survivorship clause'), authorized under California Insurance Code §10170 and reinforced by Probate Code §103 (the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act), requires the primary beneficiary to outlive the insured by a stated period (commonly 30, 60, or up to 180 days) for the proceeds to pass to the primary beneficiary. If the primary beneficiary fails to survive that period, the proceeds pass instead to the contingent beneficiary — here, the son. The purpose is to avoid double probate (the proceeds passing through the wife's estate, then immediately again to her heirs) and to honor the insured's likely intent. Paying the wife's estate because she outlived the insured by two hours, and splitting the benefit half to the wife's estate and half to the son, both treat the wife as surviving despite the clause; two hours does not satisfy the 130-day survival period. Sending the proceeds to the husband's estate by intestate succession ignores both the primary and contingent designations; intestate succession applies only when no valid beneficiary survives.