Taxation & Estate Planning

A Peterson Update

By Joel A. Schoenmeyer

Sorry I've been so bad at updating here lately! Last week our three-person family racked up three flus, bronchitis, and a double ear infection.

So, to get back to "news," there's some movement in the Drew Peterson case. (You'll remember that Mr. Peterson is the Bolingbrook, Illinois police officer whose fourth wife Stacy disappeared under mysterious circumstances.) You will recall that wife #3, Kathleen Savio, died from drowning. In her bathtub. Right before her divorce from Mr. Peterson was finalized.

I previously blogged (here) about how Ms. Savio's family was seeking to re-open her estate. The goal appears to be to file a wrongful death action against Mr. Peterson. The most recent step, taken recently, was a ruling by the Will County State's Attorney's office that Ms. Savio's death was indeed a homicide (here is the article). Now, of course, Ms. Savio's estate would still have to prove that Mr. Peterson did indeed kill Ms. Savio. This doesn't appear to be a case involving Illinois's so-called "slayer statute" (which prevents a person responsible for an individual's death from inheriting from the individual) -- my understanding is that Mr. Peterson didn't inherit much, if anything, at Ms. Savio's death.

Full post as published by Death and Taxes Blog on February 25, 2008 (boomark / email).