§560:2-803  Effect of homicide on intestate
succession, wills, trusts, joint assets, life insurance, and beneficiary
designations.  (a)  Definitions.  In this section:



"Disposition or appointment of
property" includes a transfer of an item of property or any other benefit
to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument.



"Governing instrument" means a
governing instrument executed by the decedent.



"Revocable", with respect to a
disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination, means one under which the
decedent, at the time of or immediately before death, was alone empowered, by
law or under the governing instrument, to cancel the designation in favor of
the killer, whether or not the decedent was then empowered to designate the
decedent's self in place of the decedent's killer and whether or not the
decedent then had capacity to exercise the power.



(b)  Forfeiture of statutory benefits.  An
individual who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent forfeits all
benefits under this article with respect to the decedent's estate, including an
intestate share, an elective share, an omitted spouse's, reciprocal
beneficiary's, or child's share, a homestead allowance, exempt property, and a
family allowance.  If the decedent died intestate, the decedent's intestate
estate passes as if the killer disclaimed the killer's intestate share.



(c)  Revocation of benefits under governing
instruments.  The felonious and intentional killing of the decedent:



(1)  Revokes any revocable:



(A)  Disposition or appointment of property
made by the decedent to the killer in a governing instrument;



(B)  Provision in a governing instrument
conferring a general or nongeneral power of appointment on the killer; and



(C)  Nomination of the killer in a governing
instrument, nominating or appointing the killer to serve in any fiduciary or
representative capacity, including a personal representative, executor,
trustee, or agent; and



(2)  Severs the interests of the decedent and killer
in property held by them at the time of the killing as joint tenants with the
right of survivorship, transforming the interests of the decedent and killer
into tenancies in common.



(d)  Effect of severance.  A severance under
subsection (c)(2) does not affect any third-party interest in property acquired
for value and in good faith reliance on an apparent title by survivorship in
the killer unless a writing declaring the severance has been noted, registered,
filed, or recorded in records appropriate to the kind and location of the
property which are relied upon, in the ordinary course of transactions
involving such property, as evidence of ownership.



(e)  Effect of revocation.  Provisions of a
governing instrument are given effect as if the killer disclaimed all
provisions revoked by this section or, in the case of a revoked nomination in a
fiduciary or representative capacity, as if the killer predeceased the
decedent.



(f)  Wrongful acquisition of property.  A
wrongful acquisition of property or interest by a killer not covered by this
section must be treated in accordance with the principle that a killer cannot
profit from the killer's wrong.



(g)  Felonious and intentional killing; how
determined.  After all right to appeal has been exhausted, a judgment of
conviction establishing criminal accountability for the felonious and
intentional killing of the decedent conclusively establishes the convicted
individual as the decedent's killer for purposes of this section.  In the
absence of a conviction, the court, upon the petition of an interested person,
must determine whether, under the preponderance of evidence standard, the
individual would be found criminally accountable for the felonious and
intentional killing of the decedent.  If the court determines that, under that
standard, the individual would be found criminally accountable for the
felonious and intentional killing of the decedent, the determination
conclusively establishes that individual as the decedent's killer for purposes
of this section.



(h)  Protection of payors and other third parties.



(1)  A payor or other third party is not liable for
having made a payment or transferred an item of property or any other benefit
to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument affected by an
intentional and felonious killing, or for having taken any other action in good
faith reliance on the validity of the governing instrument, upon request and
satisfactory proof of the decedent's death, before the payor or other third
party received written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under this
section.  A payor or other third party is liable for a payment made or other
action taken after the payor or other third party received written notice of a
claimed forfeiture or revocation under this section;



(2)  Written notice of a claimed forfeiture or
revocation under paragraph (1) must be mailed to the payor's or other third
party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as
a summons in a civil action.  Upon receipt of written notice of a claimed
forfeiture or revocation under this section, a payor or other third party may
pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit any item of property held by it to
or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to
the decedent's estate, or if no proceedings have been commenced, to or with the
court having jurisdiction of probate proceedings relating to decedents' estates
located in the judicial circuit of the decedent's residence.  The court shall
hold the funds or item of property and, upon its determination under this
section, shall order disbursement in accordance with the determination. 
Payments, transfers, or deposits made to or with the court discharge the payor
or other third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to or items
of property transferred to or deposited with the court.



(i)  Protection of bona fide purchasers;
personal liability of recipient.



(1)  A person who purchases property for value and
without notice, or who receives a payment or other item of property in partial
or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is neither obligated
under this section to return the payment, item of property, or benefit nor is
liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the
item of property or benefit.  But a person who, not for value, receives a
payment, item of property, or any other benefit to which the person is not
entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of
property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or
the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to
it under this section;



(2)  If this section or any part of this section
is preempted by federal law with respect to a payment, an item of
property, or any other benefit covered by this section, a person who, not for
value, receives the payment, item of property, or any other benefit to which
the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the
payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount
of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person
who would have been entitled to it were this section or part of this section
not preempted. [L 1996, c 288, pt of §1; am L 1997, c 383, §19]