Cohabitation contract and will advice | Legal advice

Questioner

In a cohabitation contract and will we want to include a provision stating that in the event of death, everything will go to the surviving spouse. If we were to die at the same time, we would want our own parts to go to our respective family members. Now suppose that one of us dies, then the entire inheritance goes to the other partner. However, he dies a few minutes / days / weeks later, then the inheritance of both still goes entirely to the in-laws. How can this be excluded/described? Is this the 'Extended exclusion' and how would you best record this to prevent the above?

Lawyer

This can be arranged by including a 'Tenerife clause' in the will. This clause means that the partners are deemed to have died at the same time if the time of death cannot be determined or if there is indeed a question of death shortly after each other. In that case, the partners are deemed to have died at the same time.