survivorship

A person's survivorship is a key legal concept in estate planning.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • The state or condition of being a survivor: "survivorship" refers to the fact or status of having survived a dangerous event, illness, or difficult circumstance.
   • Legal right of joint tenancy: In law, "survivorship" denotes the right of a surviving joint tenant to automatically inherit the entire property or interest upon the death of the other joint tenant.

Usage Examples

• State of being a survivor:

  • The cancer patient's survivorship improved after successful treatment. (The patient's condition of being a survivor became more positive.)
  • Survivorship rates for this disease have increased over the past decade. (The statistical likelihood of surviving has gone up.)

• Legal right:

  • Under the principle of survivorship, the widow inherited the entire house. (The surviving joint tenant received full ownership.)
  • The deed was drafted with a right of survivorship to avoid probate. (The legal arrangement ensures automatic transfer to the survivor.)

Advanced Usage

• "Survivorship bias": a logical error caused by focusing on successful survivors while ignoring those that did not survive.

  • The study suffered from survivorship bias because it only examined companies that remained profitable. (The analysis overlooked failed businesses, skewing results.)

• "Survivorship curve": a graph showing the number or proportion of individuals surviving at each age in a population.

  • The survivorship curve for elephants shows high survival rates until old age. (The graph indicates most elephants live long lives.)

Variants and Related Words

• Survivor (n): a person who continues to live, especially after a dangerous event.

  • She is a survivor of the earthquake. (She lived through the disaster.)

• Survive (v): to continue to live or exist, especially after a dangerous event.

  • Few plants survive in the desert. (They continue to live despite harsh conditions.)

Synonyms

• Survival: the state or fact of continuing to live.

  • His survival depended on quick medical help. (His continued life was at stake.)

• Continuance: the act of remaining in existence.

  • The continuance of the species is ensured by reproduction. (Ongoing existence is guaranteed.)

Related Idioms

• "Survival of the fittest": the natural process by which organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and reproduce.

  • In business, it's survival of the fittest — only the strongest companies thrive. (Only the most adaptable succeed.)

• "Barely survive": to live through something with great difficulty.

  • He barely survived the car crash. (He almost died but lived.)