Slayer statutes exist in various incarnations throughout the nation and usually make it where the killer cannot inherit from their victim. In Illinois, the statute prohibits the killer from receiving property or any benefit from the death of the killer and to to treat the guilty party as predeceasing the victim. Until recently, an older court case had allowed trial courts to look into the future and decide if a relative of the killer could also be disinherited if the killer would still receive benefits from the murder. But the recent ruling In re Estate of Irene Opalinska has changed the dynamic. The court held that the daughter of a murder victim could inherit even if she lied to police about her husbands involvement with the killing though she had no part in arranging the murder. Any benefit arising for the killer would come indirectly from his wife which the statute does not specifically disallow. The court distinguished this case from the old rule where a mother was going to be the actual guardian of the estate for a minor child which the court still felt would have given her enough of a direct benefit to trigger the statute. Going forward it is unknown what affect this change in the application of the slayer statute will have in Illinois since the old rule has only been narrowed in scope rather than overturned.
See John T. Books & Jena L. Levin, Public Policy and the Boomerang Inheritance, Wealth Management, February 2, 2016.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
