Florida’s Estate Slayer Statute & Philip Seymour Hoffman – killer does not inherit from Florida estates
How are #PhilipSeymourHoffman and the Florida probate code linked?
Lots of questions about someone’s mysterious death. The untimely death of this Oscar-winning star, #PhilipSeymourHoffman, reportedly from a heroin overdose, will no doubt lead to questions of “who is responsible?” There is an #EstateLaw which prohibits anyone who participated in someone’s death from ever inheriting from that victim. No inheritance from the victim. In other words, who provided #PhilipSeymourHoffman with the drugs that caused his death? If that person received an inheritance as a result of his death, and if he’d been a Florida resident, that person would not inherit from #PhilipSeymourHoffmansEstate.
In #FloridaProbate legal circles, we know that someone who participates in causing someone to die cannot inherit from that person’s estate. This is a very unique #FloridaProbateLaw that many are not familiar with.
If somebody
- unlawfully kills someone
- intentionally kill someone
- or merely participates in procuring the death of someone
then that person is not entitled to any benefits under the #FloridaWill or under the #FloridaProbateCode—- no #EstateInheritance.
In the case of #PhilipSeymourHoffman and his death, questions now surround finding out who led to his demise, or otherwise who participated in the events that led to his death.
Had #PhilipSeymourHoffman been a resident of Florida, his #FloridaEstate or his #EstateExecutor — what we in #FloridaProbateLaw call a #PersonalRepresentative — would be investigating whether the people involved in his death also stood to inherit.
If you lost a loved one, or family member, to a motor vehicle accident, drug overdose, or other incident, anyone who was involved in procuring that death, or causing that death, cannot inherit from the death of that person.
This #FloridaProbateLaw is found in the #FloridaProbateCode at Section 732.802 and is titled :
” Killer not entitled to receive property or other benefits by reason of victim’s death. ”
Sadly, #PalmBeachCountyProbates have involved a family member causing, or participating in, or procuring , the death of a family member. #PalmBeachProbateLitigators and #PalmBeachEstateLawyers often consider whether the so-called slayer statute comes into play and who inherits the #FloridaEstate.
This part of the #FloridaProbateCode which limits #InheritanceRights for #PalmBeachCountyEstates and #PalmBeachCountyProbates is not limited to outrageous murders which are the subject matter of so many Hollywood movies and fictional crime novels. This #FloridaEstateLaw may apply in less vicious incidences. Which makes you wonder….. since mercy killings are unlawed in Florida, would the #FloridaSlayerStatute apply to mercy killings?
In the past, this #FloridaProbateLaw was discussed in a #PalmBeachEstate when a hedge fund manager was found dead in his Jupiter, Florida swimming pool.