Order of death in an accident? -

What would happen if an account holder of an IRA and one of the beneficiaries died together. There are two remaining beneficiaries but because the two deceased people weren't discovered until a few days after death the medical examiner put the same date and same time on the death certificate. The state is NY. How would the account pay out? Usually you have to have an order of death, what do they do in this case? The first beneficiary has to survive the account holder by a minimum time period - usually at least 30 days. If they don't, the contingency beneficiary clause applies. Keep in mind, however, that regardless of beneficiary clauses, in every state I know of, the SPOUSE is automatically primary beneficiary. So if the account holder named one child as primary, regardless of the survivorship of the child, his current SPOUSE will get the account, even if they're not NAMED as beneficiary. paid in full to the surviving benef, next of kin. it would be paid out to the 3rd named beneficiary. i don't think order of death is considered if the deaths occurred simultaneously according to record of death