The Slayer's Rule or Suspicious Deaths Involving Life Insurance
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In Arkansas, and in many states, the Legislatures have passed a law that says: When a beneficiary to a life insurance policy wrongfully takes the life of the insured person, the beneficiary cannot collect the life insurance proceeds. If you know about or have a family member who has been suspiciously killed and life insurance is factor, read further...
Our firm has handled cases on this issue. When a person kills another person under suspicious circumstances and there is life insurance involved, often times the slayer's rule applies. The Slayer's rule is simple. If the person who is supposed to receive the life insurance money kills the person whose life is insured, the killer cannot collect the life insurance proceeds. This rule makes perfect sense, doesn't? We don't want people just shooting others to collect the money do we? We have all watched movies and television shows about murders and the prosecution used life insurance to prove motive. Well, not all cases involving deaths are criminal in nature. When it comes to who gets the life insurance proceeds, the killer or the deceased's estate, a civil lawsuit may be necessary. Even if a criminal case is not pursued or if criminal charges are dropped, a civil case may still apply.
Our firm handles civil cases involving the Slayer's Rule. Our job is to prove the killer either intentionally or negligently took the life of the person who was insured. It is also our job to identify all life insurance policies on the deceased person and interpret those policies.
As you would probably guess, the majority of cases involving the Slayer's Rule are between a husband and wife. It is common for the wife to be the beneficiary of the husband's life insurance policy and the husband to be the wife's. The common defense from the killer is an accident. If the death is an accident then the beneficiary can collect all the money. So if you know of a death that looks suspicious, life insurance is involved, and the killer is claiming accident, you should probably hire someone to investigate and/or contact the authorities. Most likely, the authorities have already been contacted.
You might ask who is our client in cases involving the Slayer's Rule? The family of the deceased. Usually, the mother and father, brothers and sisters, and children of the deceased are the people that contact us to investigate.
We sincerely hope this issue never affects you, however if need be, you can contact us to ask us free questions about the Slayer's Rule and suspicious deaths involving life insurance.