Request By:
Honorable Ann D. Aaron
Attorney at Law
1088 Starks Building
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Penny R. Warren, Assistant Attorney General
You asked whether a person who causes the death of another is precluded from inheriting from the deceased. If the person is convicted of a felony for taking the life of the decedent, the answer is "yes."
KRS 381.280 provides:
"If the husband, wife, heir at law, beneficiary under a will, joint tenant with the right of survivorship or the beneficiary under any insurance policy takes the life of the decedent and is convicted therefor of a felony, the person so convicted forfeits all interest in and to the property of the decedent, including any interest he would receive as surviving joint tenant, and the property interest so forfeited descends to the decedent's other heirs at law, unless otherwise disposed of by the decedent. "
This statute was upheld in
Wilson v. Bates, 313 Ky. 333, 231 S.W.2d 39 (1950), against a challenge on the grounds of unconstitutional special legislation. The Court also held that a son immediately forfeited his right to inherit from his parents by killing them and that no part of their estate vested in him even though his conviction did not occur until a later date. In a companion case,
Bates v. Wilson, 313 Ky. 572, 232 S.W.2d 837 (1950), the Court treated the son as though he predeceased his parents and held that, under the laws of descent and distribution, a portion of the intestate estate passed to the murderer's daughter. The Cour found it was not the intent of the legislature to deny the right to inherit the estate to an innocent child.
Although the question of forfeiture absent conviction has been raised in Kentucky, the courts have not yet found it necessary to decide the issue. See