Section 43-8-253 (Amended by Act 2026-287) Effect of Homicide on Intestate Succession, Wills, Joint Assets, Life Insurance and Beneficiary Designations; Effect of Bona Fide Purchase by Third Party or Good Faith Payment by Obligor, Etc.
AI-assisted research summary: If a person feloniously and intentionally kills a protected decedent, they lose the benefits and rights that would have flowed from the death, and the property is treated as if they had died first.
AMENDED BY ACT 2026-287, EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. (a) A surviving spouse, heir, or devisee who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent is not entitled to any benefits under the will or under articles 3 through 10 of this chapter, and the estate of decedent passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent. Property appointed by the will of the decedent to or for the benefit of the killer passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent. (b) Any joint tenant who feloniously and intentionally kills another joint tenant thereby effects a severance of the interest of the decedent so that the share of the decedent passes as his or her property and the killer has no rights by survivorship. This provision applies to joint tenancies with the right of survivorship and tenancies in common during the respective lives of the grantees with cross-contingent remainders in fee to the survivor in real and personal property, joint and multiple-party accounts in banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions and other institutions, and any other form of co-ownership with survivorship incidents. (c) A named beneficiary of a bond, life insurance policy, or other contractual arrangement who feloniously and intentionally kills the principal obligee or the person upon whose life the policy is issued is not entitled to any benefit under the bond, policy or other contractual arrangement, and it becomes payable as though the killer had predeceased the decedent. (d) Any other acquisition of property or interest by the killer shall be treated in accordance with the principles of this section. (e) A final judgment of conviction of felonious and intentional killing is conclusive for purposes of this section. In the absence of a conviction of felonious and intentional killing the court may determine by a preponderance of evidence whether the killing was felonious and intentional for purposes of this section. (f) This section does not affect the rights of any person who, before rights under this section have been adjudicated, purchases from the killer for value and without notice property which the killer would have acquired except for this section, but the killer is liable for the amount of the proceeds or the value of the property. Any insurance company, bank, or other obligor making payment according to the terms of its policy or obligation is not liable by reason of this section unless prior to payment it has received at its home office or principal address written notice of a claim under this section.