Thirteen Year-Old Boy Charged With Murdering Father is Primary Beneficiary of Father’s Estate

A 13 year-old Wisconsin boy has been charged with shooting his father to death.  The father left almost his entire estate, valued at nearly $50,000, to the boy. The family claims that the boy suffers from autism, and a mental evaluation has been ordered.

If the boy indeed shot his father to death, this tragic story could turn into a “slayer statute” case. Slayer statutes prevent a killer from being a beneficiary of his victim’s will.  The inheritance case may ultimate turn on whether the boy is found mentally competent.

See Channel 3000, Will Names Son Charged in Father’s Shooting Death, Jan. 26, 2010. 

Special thanks to Melinda Gustafson Gervasi (attorney, Madison, Wisconsin) for bringing this to my attention.