[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-is-a-survivorship-period-new-york-ny-greenwich-ct\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-is-a-survivorship-period-new-york-ny-greenwich-ct\/","headline":"What Is a \u2018Survivorship\u2019 Period?","name":"What Is a \u2018Survivorship\u2019 Period?","description":"\u201cSurvivorship periods don\u2019t usually surpass 60 days. If this period surpasses 120 days, it could put the tax-free estate transfer of assets to a surviving spouse at risk.\u201d A survivorship clause in a will or a trust says that beneficiaries can inherit only if they live a certain number of days after the person who […]","datePublished":"2020-05-22","dateModified":"2024-09-04","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/#Person","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/","identifier":5,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","width":0,"height":0}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b0264e2dadb71.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b0264e2dadb71.jpg","height":600,"width":395},"url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-is-a-survivorship-period-new-york-ny-greenwich-ct\/","about":["Beneficiary","Elder Law","Estate Planning","Probate","Trusts","Will"],"wordCount":531,"keywords":["Beneficiary","Elder Law","Estate Planning","Probate","Survivorship","Trusts","Will"],"articleBody":"\u201cSurvivorship periods don\u2019t usually surpass 60 days. If this period surpasses 120 days, it could put the tax-free estate transfer of assets to a surviving spouse at risk.\u201dA survivorship clause in a will or a trust says that beneficiaries can inherit only if they live a certain number of days after the person who made the will or trust dies. The goal is to avoid situations where assets pass under your beneficiary\u2019s estate plan and not yours if they outlive you only by a short period of time. While these situations are rare, they do occur, according to the article “How Survivorship Periods Work” from kake.com.Many wills and trusts contain a survivorship period. Most estates won\u2019t rise to the level of today\u2019s very high federal estate tax exemption ($11.58 million for an individual) so a long survivorship period is not necessary. However, if the surviving spouse must wait too long to receive property under the will\u2014six months or more\u2014it might harm their eligibility for the marital deduction, even if they are made in a qualifying trust or an outright gift.Even if a will does not contain a survivorship clause, many states require one. Some states require at least a five-day or 120-hour survivorship period. That law might apply to beneficiaries who inherit property under a will, trust or, if there is no will, under state law. This usually does not apply to those who are beneficiaries of an insurance policy, a POD bank account (Payable on Death), or a surviving co-owner of property held in joint tenancy. To learn what states have a set of laws, known as the Uniform Probate Code or the revised version of the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, speak with a local estate planning lawyer.Survivorship requirements are put into place in case of simultaneous or close to simultaneous deaths of the estate owners and the estate beneficiaries. This is to avoid having the distribution of assets from an estate owner\u2019s estate distributed according to the beneficiary\u2019s estate plan, and not the original estate owner\u2019s plan.For an example, let\u2019s say Jeff dies and leaves his estate to his sister Judy. Jeff has named his favorite charity as an alternative beneficiary. Jeff\u2019s assets would normally go to his sister Judy. They would only go to his favorite charity, if Judy were not alive at the time of his death. However, if Jeff dies and then Judy dies 14 days later, Jeff\u2019s assets could go to Judy\u2019s beneficiaries under the terms of her will. The charity, Jeff\u2019s intended beneficiary, would receive nothing.The family would also have the burden of dealing with not one but two probate proceedings at the same time.However, if a 30-day survivorship clause was in place, then Jeff\u2019s estate plan would be carried out according to his wishes and his assets would pass to his favorite charity as originally intended..Having a complete, secure\u2014and properly prepared\u2014estate plan in place is worth the effort.Reference: kake.com (March 31, 2020) “How Survivorship Periods Work”For more information on elder law and estate planning, please visit my estate planning website."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Is a \u2018Survivorship\u2019 Period?","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-is-a-survivorship-period-new-york-ny-greenwich-ct\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]