(Law) The right of a joint tenant, or other person who has a joint interest in an estate, to take the whole estate upon the death of other.
Chance of survivorship, the chance that a person of a given age has of surviving another of a giving age; thus, by the Carlisle tables of mortality the chances of survivorship for two persons, aged 25 and 65, are 89 and 11 respectively, or about 8 to 1 that the elder die first.
... thirty persons, of whom the survivors succeed to the annuities of all those who die before them; the last survivor succeeding to the annuities of the whole lot. Upon the same revenue, more money can always be raised by tontines than by annuities for separate lives. An annuity, with a right of survivorship, is really worth more than an equal annuity for a separate life; and, from the confidence which every man naturally has in his own good fortune, the principle upon which is founded the success of all lotteries, such an annuity generally sells ... — An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations • Adam Smith
...
