§ 344 SLAYER'S ACT

• Jurisdiction: South Carolina
• Section: Chapter 3 Wills

§ 344 Slayer's act

The SCPC prohibits the taking from a decedent by one who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent. Section 2-803 treats the killer as predeceased not only for purposes of testate and intestate property but also for contracts payable on the death of the victim (including insurance contracts), joint tenancies, statutory spousal shares,³⁰⁹ trusts, and for any other property that would have otherwise passed to the killer upon the death of the victim.³¹⁰ Section 2-803 severs joint tenancies shared by the killer and the victim. The provisions of section 2-803 protect a bona fide purchaser for value from the killer; in addition, any insurance company or bank paying proceeds without written notice will not be liable.³¹¹ The Slayer's Act also revokes the victim's appointment or nomination of the killer to a fiduciary position.³¹²

A guilty plea or a conviction of felonious and intentional killing is conclusive to trigger the operation of section 2-803. Any other outcome of a criminal charge or trial is inapplicable to this section; in those cases, the court deciding whether to apply the provisions of this section must determine by the preponderance of the evidence that a felonious and intentional killing occurred.³¹³

Section 62-2-803. Effect of homicide on intestate succession, wills, joint assets, life insurance, and beneficiary designations.

(a) An individual who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent is not entitled to any benefits under the decedent's will, trust of which the decedent is a grantor or under this article with respect to the decedent's estate, including, but not limited to, an intestate share, an elective share, an omitted spouse's share or child's share, a homestead allowance, and exempt property, and the estate of the decedent passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent. Property appointed by the will of the decedent to or for the benefit of the killer passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent.

(b) Any joint tenant who feloniously and intentionally kills another joint tenant thereby effects a severance of the interest of the decedent so that the share of the decedent passes as the decedent's property and the killer has no rights by survivorship. This provision applies to joint tenancies in real and personal property, joint and multiple-party accounts in banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, and other institutions, and any other form of co-ownership with survivorship...