A lot can hang in the balance upon the death of a person. Although not every family murder is driven by a large inheritance, it has happened enough that a general rule of law has formed to prevent the person from benefiting from the crime. Not only has the rule of law been postulated by various United States courts, it has also been codified into statute in almost every jurisdiction. The following rule is part of a larger statutory system designed to prevent those who commit crimes from profiting from them.

The California Probate Code states that a person who “feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent is not entitled” to “any property, interest, or benefit under a will of the decedent, or a trust created by or for the benefit of the decedent in which the decedent has an interest, including any general or special power of appointment conferred by the will or trust on the killer and any nomination of the killer as executor, trustee, guardian, or conservator or custodian made by the will or trust.” California Probate Code § 250.

Filed under: Probate, Probate Litigation, Wills and Trusts