Can Someone Who Killed or Financially Abused a Person Still Inherit From Them?

Your father's will leaves half of everything to the brother who spent the last three years emptying his bank accounts. Or worse, a relative is responsible for a family member's death and is also the named beneficiary. Can that person still collect?

In Washington, no. RCW 11.84.020 says that no "slayer" or "abuser" may acquire any property or receive any benefit as a result of the death of the person they harmed. Chapter 11.84 RCW then treats that person, for most purposes, as if he or she had died first. The rule reaches wills, inheritance without a will, jointly held property, and life insurance. But someone has to prove it, and for financial abusers the statute leaves a door open for forgiveness.

Who Counts as a Slayer?

RCW 11.84.010 defines a slayer as any person who participates, as a principal or as an accessory before the fact, in the willful and unlawful killing of another person. An accidental death is not what that definition describes.

RCW 11.84.140 explains how that status is established. A final judgment of conviction for the willful and unlawful killing is conclusive. A finding of not guilty by reason of insanity carries the same meaning as a conviction for this purpose. And when there is neither, the superior court can decide the question itself in a civil case, finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the person participated in the killing. That is the ordinary civil standard, so the lack of a criminal conviction does not end the matter.

Who Counts as an Abuser?

Under RCW 11.84.010, an abuser is any person who participates in the willful and unlawful financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The statute protects the estate of anyone who, at any time during life while a vulnerable adult, was the victim of that exploitation.

Both key terms are borrowed from RCW 74.34.020, part of Washington's vulnerable adult protection law. Financial exploitation means the illegal or improper use, control over, or withholding of a vulnerable adult's property, income, resources, or trust funds for someone else's profit or advantage. The definition specifically includes misusing a power of attorney, a trust, or a guardianship appointment. A vulnerable adult includes a person 60 or older who lacks the functional, mental, or physical ability to care for himself or herself, along with several other categories, such as adults subject to a guardianship or conservatorship and people admitted to certain facilities.

The abuser rule is limited to financial exploitation. Physical abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult, however serious, is not what chapter 11.84 RCW means by "abuser."

How Is Financial Abuse Proven?

A criminal conviction is one route. Under RCW 11.84.150, a final conviction for conduct constituting financial exploitation of the person who died, including theft, forgery, fraud, identity theft, robbery, burglary, or extortion, is conclusive.

Without a conviction, the superior court can still make the finding, but the bar is higher than it is for slayers. RCW 11.84.150 and RCW 11.84.160 require clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that the person who died was a vulnerable adult when the exploitation took place and that the conduct was willful action or willful inaction causing injury to the vulnerable adult's property.

One evidentiary rule catches families off guard: under RCW 11.84.160, a finding of abuse made by the Department of Social and Health Services is not admissible for any purpose in a proceeding under this chapter. The inheritance case has to be proven with other evidence, usually bank records, medical records, and witnesses.

Where Does the Property Go?

The slayer or abuser is deemed to have died before the victim. RCW 11.84.030 applies that rule to property that would have passed by inheritance without a will, by statutory right as a surviving spouse or domestic partner, or under a community property agreement. RCW 11.84.040 applies it to gifts under a will.

Other sections handle property that passes outside probate. Under RCW 11.84.050, for property the two held as joint tenants or joint owners, half passes to the victim's estate at the victim's death, and the other half passes to the victim's estate when the slayer or abuser dies, unless the property is severed or partitioned first. Those joint-property rules remain subject to enforceable agreements and trusts arising from unequal contributions. Under RCW 11.84.100, life insurance proceeds payable to the slayer or abuser are paid to the victim's estate instead, unless the policy names a secondary beneficiary.

There is a catch. Treating the wrongdoer as having died first does not always send the share to the other heirs. In In re Estate of Evans, 181 Wn. App. 436, 326 P.3d 755 (2014), a case involving a ranch in Sultan, in Snohomish County, a son was found to have financially abused his father and was deemed to have predeceased him. The Court of Appeals held that Washington's antilapse statute, RCW 11.12.110, applies in that situation, so the son's share under the will passed to the son's own children. That statute is explained in what happens if someone in my will dies before I do.

Can the Victim Forgive the Abuser?

For abusers, yes. RCW 11.84.170 allows an abuser to receive property after all if the court finds, by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence, that the person who died knew of the financial exploitation and afterward ratified the intent to transfer the property or benefit to that person. A parent who learns what a child did and afterward confirms that the child is still to receive the gift is the situation the statute describes.

The same section also lets the court allow an abuser to take an interest in any manner it considers equitable, weighing the overall estate plan, the likely intent of the person who died, and the degree of harm the exploitation caused. RCW 11.84.170 speaks only of abusers. The chapter offers a slayer no comparable exception.

A Worked Example

Helen, 84, lives in Mill Creek and has advancing dementia. Her son Greg holds her power of attorney and, over two years, moves $150,000 from her accounts into his own. Helen's will, signed long before, splits her estate equally between Greg and her daughter Irene. Greg is never charged with a crime.

After Helen dies, Irene asks the superior court to find that Greg is an abuser. If she proves by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that Helen was a vulnerable adult at the time and that Greg willfully exploited her finances, RCW 11.84.040 treats Greg as having died before Helen. Under Evans, if Greg has children, his half may then pass to them under RCW 11.12.110, not to Irene. And if Greg shows that Helen knew what he had done and afterward ratified her intent to leave him his share, RCW 11.84.170 could restore it.

Getting the $150,000 back is a separate question. RCW 11.84.180 says the chapter supplements other remedies, and those are covered in can I sue someone for financially exploiting my elderly parent.

Raising the Issue in a Probate

These cases turn on evidence, and the proof required depends on the type of claim and on whether there was a conviction. If you believe someone who harmed a family member is about to inherit from them, the Law Office of Chad Foster can help you evaluate the claim. Call 425.785.8679 to talk with a Snohomish County probate attorney.