A life insurance policy contains a common disaster (survivorship) clause. The insured and the primary beneficiary die in the same accident, and the order of death cannot be determined. Under the standard simultaneous-death provision, the primary beneficiary is presumed to have:

Why A is correct

The common disaster clause, based on the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, provides that when the insured and the primary beneficiary die in a common accident and the order of deaths cannot be established, the primary beneficiary is presumed to have died first. The proceeds are therefore paid as if the primary beneficiary had predeceased the insured, meaning they go to the contingent beneficiary, or to the insured's estate if no contingent beneficiary exists. This prevents the proceeds from passing to the beneficiary's heirs unnecessarily.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) Presuming the beneficiary died last would route the proceeds through the beneficiary's estate, defeating the purpose of the clause.
• C) The presumption resolves the order of death immediately; the proceeds are not placed in court suspense.
• D) The proceeds do not escheat to the state; they are paid under the presumption to the named contingent beneficiary or the estate.

Memory hook

Same accident, unknown order: the beneficiary is treated as gone first, so the money flows to the backup name.