Commorientes and survivorship

In Ting Kam Yuen v Cheung Wing Kin ([2011] HKEC 1151) H and W were joint tenants of two properties. They were both in the same fishing vessel that sank after colliding with a ship. Section 11(1) of the Conveyancing and Property Ordinance  provides that where there is uncertainty as to the order in which joint tenants have died the younger is deemed to survive the elder. W was younger than H. If there were any uncertainty, the property would pass into her estate. In this case, however, the court concluded on the facts that H had, in fact, survived a little while longer than W. As a result, the properties passed to H’s estate under the right of survivorship and so were available to his creditors.

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