RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Slayer Statute and Insanity
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 258
OP 262
VO 38
IS 2
A1 Jennifer Piel
A1 Gregory B. Leong
YR 2010
UL http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/258.abstract
AB It is common law that persons cannot benefit from their crimes. For this reason, most states have enacted slayer rules that prevent a killer from sharing in the victim's estate. However, terms in the slayer rules, such as willful and unlawful, can be difficult to apply, as illustrated by the situation in which a slayer is found not guilty by reason of insanity. The Washington Supreme Court has recently addressed whether a man who killed his mother and was then found not guilty by reason of insanity in criminal court can inherit a portion of his mother's estate.