Rhode Island’s slayer statute disqualifies the slayer and anyone taking “through” the slayer. In Swain v. Estate of Tyre ex rel. Reilly, 57 A.3d 283 (R.I. 2012), a divided Rhode Island Supreme Court held that the statute disqualifies the children of a slayer who are the contingent beneficiaries of the victim’s will, who were otherwise entitled to the residuary estate should the slayer, their father, predecease the victim, their stepmother. The court found that because the children maintained their father’s innocence and stated that they would use estate assets to aid his defense, to allow them to take under the will would confer a benefit on their father and thus violate the statute.
Special thanks to William LaPiana (Professor of Law, New York Law School) for bringing this case to my attention.
