## Facts

- Frank Shine and Diana Shine both died in the same event, creating uncertainty about which spouse died first.
- The order of death mattered to the distribution of their estates because survivorship would affect who took from whom.
- Bobbye Shine (plaintiff/appellant) offered evidence intended to show that Diana predeceased Frank.
- John Gray (defendant/appellee) countered with medical testimony stating it could not be conclusively determined whether Frank and Diana died simultaneously or whether one survived the other.
- The probate trial court found the evidence insufficient to establish that either spouse survived the other and ruled that Frank and Diana died simultaneously.
- Bobbye Shine appealed the simultaneous-death determination to the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

## Issues

1. Did the probate court err in treating Frank and Diana Shine as having died simultaneously under Florida’s Uniform Simultaneous Death Act where the evidence did not reliably establish which spouse survived the other?

## Decision

- The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed.
- The court held the trial court was entitled to find the evidence insufficient to prove survivorship and, on that finding, to apply Florida’s Uniform Simultaneous Death Act and treat the deaths as simultaneous for probate distribution purposes.

## Legal Principles

- Under Florida’s Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, when the order of death cannot be established, the law treats the deaths as simultaneous for succession and probate distribution.
- The Act applies not only when there is no evidence at all, but also when the evidence presented does not satisfactorily prove that one person survived the other.
- The party asserting survivorship bears the burden to prove, with sufficiently reliable evidence, that one decedent outlived the other.
- When the record contains conflicting lay and medical testimony on survivorship, the trial court, as factfinder, decides credibility and weight.
- On appeal, a probate court’s factual determination about whether survivorship was proved will be upheld if supported by competent, substantial evidence; an appellate court does not reweigh evidence.

## Conclusion

In *In re Estate of Shine*, the Florida Fourth District affirmed a probate ruling that Frank and Diana Shine should be treated as having died simultaneously because the evidence did not establish a survivorship sequence with sufficient reliability; as a result, Florida’s Uniform Simultaneous Death Act controlled distribution of the estates.


In re Estate of Shine, 389 So. 2d 1191 (1980)