In an attempt to avoid litigation to establish survivorship and provide an equitable basis for disposing of the property of the parties involved, 49 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, which applies to all types of property and property rights. The underlying theory of the act is that in the absence of evidence to the contrary each person is presumed to be the survivor as to his or her own property. In the case of jointly held property, each party is presumed to be the survivor as to his or her share of the property. The act makes specific references to life insurance, stating that when the insured and the beneficiary have died and there is no sufficient evidence that they died otherwise than simultaneously, the policy proceeds will be distributed as if the insured had survived the beneficiary. This is a conclusive presumption, and it applies whether the beneficiary is designated revocably or irrevocably.

The objectives of the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act can be achieved through the inclusion of a common disaster clause in the policy. With language similar or even identical to that of the Act, this clause states that when the insured and beneficiary perish in a common accident, the insured will be presumed to have survived the beneficiary.