You Don’t Need $80M to Make This Estate Planning Mistake

Estate planning is about preparing for the unexpected, and few situations illustrate this better than the passing of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy. With a 30-year age gap, they likely assumed Betsy would outlive Gene by many years. Yet they died just days apart, raising a critical estate planning question: What happens when spouses pass away close together?

What Is a Simultaneous Death Clause?

A simultaneous death clause is a provision in a will or trust that determines how assets are distributed if two people die within a short period of time. Without this clause, state laws dictate who is presumed to have died first. This can lead to unintended transfers, legal confusion, and tax complications.

How Betsy Hackman’s Estate Plan Helped Avoid Legal Issues

Fortunately, Betsy Hackman’s will contained a simultaneous death clause, stating that if she and Gene died within 90 days of each other, their deaths would be legally treated as simultaneous. This meant that her assets did not transfer to Gene first—instead, they went directly to charity, as she had intended.



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