Chris Benoit’s ‘Roid Rage Triggers Complex Intestacy Issues
In June 2007, pro wrestler Chris Benoit went into a “‘roid-rage” (extreme anger triggered by high does of steroids) killing his wife, son, and himself.
His actions have now triggered complex issues regarding the distribution of the estates of these three individuals, all of whom died intestate.
The key issue that needs to be decided is the order that the individuals died. Here are the options:
- Chris strangled his wife, killed his son, and then committed suicide — Under this scenario, the multi-million dollar estate would pass to his children from a prior marriage.
- Chris killed his son, strangled his wife, and then committed suicide — Under this scenario, part of the estate would pass to his mother-in-law (his wife’s mother) under Georgia law because the applicable slayer statute would constructively treat Chris has having died before his wife and son.
See Harry R. Weber, Order of deaths key to wrestler’s estate, Yahoo! News, Aug. 15, 2007.
Special thanks to Andrew D. Rothstein (Associate, Trusts & Estates Department, Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster, P.C., Boston, MA), Payson Lederman (attorney, California), and Al Brophy (Professor, University of Alabama School of Law) for bringing this development to my attention.