Taxation & Estate Planning

Slayer Statute Applicable To Minors?

By Joel A. Schoenmeyer

Here's an interesting one: Linda Damm was killed by her daughter's boyfriend, Bryan Grove. Her daughter, Tess, was 15 when she evidently helped to "plan and facilitate" her mother's murder. The question is whether Colorado's so-called "slayer statute" applies to prevent Tess Damm (a minor) from inheriting from her mother's estate. This article details the situation. One lawyer calls the argument "interesting" -- the parties are currently going into mediation.

The Illinois statute (Section 2-6 of the Illinois Probate Act) reads in relevant part as follows:

Person causing death. A person who intentionally and unjustifiably causes the death of another shall not receive any property, benefit, or other interest by reason of the death, whether as heir, legatee, beneficiary, joint tenant, survivor, appointee or in any other capacity and whether the property, benefit, or other interest passes pursuant to any form of title registration, testamentary or nontestamentary instrument, intestacy, renunciation, or any other circumstance. The property, benefit, or other interest shall pass as if the person causing the death died before the decedent, provided that with respect to joint tenancy property the interest possessed prior to the death by the person causing the death shall not be diminished by the application of this Section. A determination under this Section may be made by any court of competent jurisdiction separate and apart from any criminal proceeding arising from the death, provided that no such civil proceeding shall proceed to trial nor shall the person be required to submit to discovery in such civil proceeding until such time as any criminal proceeding has been finally determined by the trial court or, in the event no criminal charge has been brought, prior to one year after the date of death. A person convicted of first degree murder or second degree murder of the decedent is conclusively presumed to have caused the death intentionally and unjustifiably for purposes of this Section.

As you can see, Illinois also talks about "person," just as Colorado does. Is someone under the age of 18 a "person" for purposes of the statute? I would think so, although the Probate Act doesn't define the term. Interestingly enough, there is a provision in the part of the Probate Act that applies to guardianship and disabled adults -- Section 11a-2 -- that talks about a "disabled person" as a "person 18 years old or older who...."

Full post as published by Death and Taxes Blog on September 05, 2008 (boomark / email).