IHTM12194 - Simultaneous deaths (commorientes): general law (Northern Ireland)

In Northern Ireland, there is no equivalent of S184 Law of Property Act 1925 ( IHTM12192) in England. The result is that the common law presumption of simultaneous deaths still applies in Northern Ireland with one exception. Under Article 30 Wills and Administration Proceedings (NI) Order 1994, where a will contains provision for a substitute executor operative if the one designated in the will dies before or at the same time as the testator ( IHTM12001) but the deaths occur in circumstances rendering uncertain which of them survived the other, the provision is to take effect.