Estate of Schmidt

After Max Schmidt (hereafter Max) and his wife Patricia were killed in a tragic automobile accident, the executor of her estate filed this proceeding to determine heir-ship, pursuant to the Uniform Simultaneous Death Act, sections 296-296.8 of the Probate Code. The heirs and administrator of Max’s estate appeal from a judgment decreeing that Patricia was the surviving spouse of Max and an heir of his estate, contending that there was no sufficient evidence that Max and Patricia died otherwise than simultaneously, or to determine the order in which they died, and that the trial court erred in…