Life Insurance and Murder
Life Insurance and Murder
Can you recover the life insurance money if you kill your spouse?
A client asked me the following question the other day:
“I’m named as the beneficiary on my wife’s life insurance policy. Speaking purely hypothetically, if I were to kill her, would her life insurance policy pay out? Would I be allowed to keep the proceeds?”
He brings up two very different questions:
1. Does life insurance pay out in the event that the insured is murdered?
2. Can I recover the insurance payout if I murdered my spouse?
So, does life insurance pay out in the event that the insured is murdered?
Yes, life insurance pays out in the event of murder. Life insurance policies pay out regardless of how you die. Most plans have an exception for suicide if it happens within the first 2 years of having the policy.
Can I recover the insurance money if I murder my spouse?
Probably not. You are going to run into a couple of problems.
1. It is insurance fraud (similar to burning down your house/business for the insurance payout).
2. It is a tenant of the common law throughout the United States that you cannot benefit from your own wrongdoing.
3. Many states have language in their insurance code that reads similar to this: Any interest will be forfeited when the beneficiary is the principal or an accomplice in willfully bringing about the death of the insured. When such is the case, the nearest relative of the insured shall receive said insurance.
4. Most states have a “Slayer Statute” which extinguishes your right to recover any money/property (such as through an estate plan or Michigan’s intestacy laws) from someone whose death you cause either by murder or manslaughter.
In summary: It is incredibly unlikely that you will be able to recover the insurance money if you kill your spouse.
It’s also worth noting that if you’re thinking of killing your spouse:
1. Don’t.
2. In the event of murder, many insurance companies won’t pay out on the policy until there has been a conviction or until the police have closed the case. So you likely won’t be able to grab the cash and make a run for the border.
If you have questions about this article, or there are other legal issues you need help with, contact Grand Rapids Attorney Todd Neckers at (616) 422-5082 or contact@neckerslaw.com.
The information on this blog is for informational purposes only. The posts are not intended to be legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed nor should any such relationship be implied.
