Acts and Regulations

S-20 - Survivorship Act

Table of contents
Full text
Repealed on 1 March 2013
CHAPTER S-20
Survivorship Act
Assented to May 9, 1991
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:
Repealed: R.S.N.B. 2012, Schedule A
Presumption regarding survivorship where persons die at the same time
1Except as otherwise provided in this Act, where two or more persons die at the same time, for all purposes affecting the legal or beneficial title to, ownership of, or succession to, property, the property of each person, or any property of which the person is competent to dispose, shall be disposed of as if that person had survived the other or others.
Presumption where a will exists
2(1)Unless a contrary intention appears in the will, where a will contains a provision for the disposition of property in the event that a person designated in the will
(a) dies before another person, or
(b) dies at the same time as another person
and the designated person dies at the same time as the other person, the case for which the will provides is deemed to have occurred for the purposes of that disposition.
2(2)Where a will contains a provision for a substitute personal representative in the event that an executor designated in the will
(a) dies before the testator, or
(b) dies at the same time as the testator
and the designated executor dies at the same time as the testator, the case for which the will provides shall be deemed to have occurred for the purposes of probating the will.
Presumption in the case of joint property
3Unless a contrary intention appears in a written agreement to which the persons are parties, where two or more persons hold title to property jointly with each other, and all of them die at the same time, those persons shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have held the title to the property in common in equal shares.
Presumption in the case of marital property
4(1)The following definitions apply in this section.
“marital property” means marital property as defined in the Marital Property Act.(biens matrimoniaux)
“spouse” means spouse as defined in the Marital Property Act.(spouse)
4(2)Unless a contrary intention appears in a written agreement to which both spouses are parties, marital property shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have been held by them in common in equal shares.
2008, c.45, s.36
Rule regarding insurance proceeds
5Where a person whose life is insured under a life insurance contract or an accident or sickness insurance contract and a beneficiary under the contract die at the same time, the insurance moneys payable under the contract on the death of the person whose life is insured shall be paid in accordance with section 177 or 213 of the Insurance Act and, if the insurance moneys are paid to the personal representative of the insured, this Act applies to their disposition by the personal representative.
Presumption regarding survivorship where persons die in circumstances rendering survivorship uncertain or within  ten days of each other
6(1)Where two or more persons die in circumstances rendering it uncertain which of them survived the other or others, they shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have died at the same time.
6(2)Subject to subsection (3), where two or more persons die within ten days of each other, they shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have died at the same time.
6(3)Where one person dies within ten days of another, but during those ten days does any act which, at the time or on the death of the second deceased, creates in a third person an interest in property which had come to the second deceased on the death of the first deceased, that act by the second deceased is effective to create the interest it purported to create.
Survivorship where death occurs before commencement  of this Act
7In respect of the deaths of persons who died before the commencement of this Act, survivorship shall be determined as though this Act had not been enacted.
Interpretation of wills, written agreement or documents
8(1)Any will, written agreement or document made before the commencement of this Act shall be interpreted as though this Act had not been enacted.
8(2)In any will, written agreement or document made after the commencement of this Act, any reference to one person surviving another shall be deemed, unless a contrary intention appears and subject to subsection 6(3), to be a reference to the one person surviving the other for a period greater than that referred to in subsection 6(2).
Repeal
9The Survivorship Act, chapter S-19 of the Revised Statutes, 1973, is repealed.
10This Act or any provision of it comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.
N.B. This Act was proclaimed and came into force June 1, 1993.
N.B. This Act is consolidated to March 1, 2013.