Estate Planning and Tax Lawyer Blog

In Northeast Florida, you see stories in the news where a spouse kills another spouse so they may receive the life insurance benefit or receive the assets left to them under a Will. However, what is usually not talked about is the fact that they will never receive the money or anything else. Florida (and many other states) have what is called a "slayer statute", Florida statute 732.802.

The first part of the statute say that a surviving person who unlawfully and intentionally kills or participates in procuring the death of the decedent is not entitled to any benefits under the will and the property passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent.

For jointly owned property, the rules are slightly different. Any joint owner who unlawfully and intentionally kills another joint tenant busts the joint ownership so that the decedent’s share of the property passes as the decedent’s property. Under normal rules, upon the death of a joint owner, the property passes to the surviving owner (unless the property was owned as tenants-in-common).

The statute also says that a named beneficiary of a bond, life insurance policy or other contractual arrangement who unlawfully and intentionally kills the principal is not entitled to any benefit and is payable as if the killer had predeceased the decedent.

A conviction of murder by a court is conclusive evidence in determining whether or not the killer receives any inheritance. In absence of a conviction, a court may determine by the greater weight of evidence whether the killer was unlawful and intentional.