Wisconsin § 854.03 - Requirement of survival by 120 hours.

§ 854.03. Requirement of survival by 120 hours.

854.03(1) (1) Requirement of survival. Except as provided in sub. (5) , if property is transferred to an individual under a statute or under a provision in a governing instrument that requires the individual to survive an event and it is not established that the individual survived the event by at least 120 hours, the individual is considered to have predeceased the event. 854.03(2) (2) Co-owners with right of survivorship. 854.03(2)(a) (a) In this subsection, “co-owners with right of survivorship” includes joint tenants, owners of survivorship marital property and other co-owners of property or accounts that are held under circumstances that entitle one or more persons to all of the property or account upon the death of one or more of the others. 854.03(2)(b) (b) Except as provided in sub. (5) , if property is transferred under a governing instrument that establishes 2 or more co-owners with right of survivorship, and if at least one of the co-owners did not survive the others by at least 120 hours, the property is transferred to the co-owners in proportion to their ownership interests. 854.03(3) (3) Marital property. Except as provided in subs. (4) and (5) , if a husband and wife die leaving marital property and it is not established that one survived the other by at least 120 hours, 50 percent of the marital property shall be distributed as if it were the husband’s individual property and the husband had survived, and 50 percent of the marital property shall be distributed as if it were the wife’s individual property and the wife had survived. 854.03(4) (4) Life insurance. Except as provided in sub. (5) , if the insured and the beneficiary under a policy of life or accident insurance have both died and it is not established that one survived the other by at least 120 hours, the proceeds of the policy shall be distributed as if the insured had survived the beneficiary. If the policy is the marital property of the insured and of the insured’s spouse and there is no alternative beneficiary except the estate or the personal representative of the estate, the proceeds shall be distributed as marital property in the manner provided in sub. (3) . 854.03(5) (5) Exceptions. 854.03(5)(am) (am) This section does not apply if any of the following conditions applies: 854.03(5)(am)1. 1. The statute or governing instrument requires the individual to survive an event by a specified period. 854.03(5)(am)2. 2. The statute or governing instrument indicates that the individual is not required to survive an event by any specified period. 854.03(5)(am)3. 3. The statute or governing instrument deals with simultaneous deaths or deaths in a common disaster and the provision is relevant to the facts. 854.03(5)(am)4. 4. The imposition of a 120-hour survival requirement would cause a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment to fail to be valid, or to be invalidated, under s.