2022 Georgia Code
Title 53 - Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
Article 1 - In General
§ 53-1-5. Right of Individual Who Feloniously and Intentionally Kills or Conspires to Kill to Inherit

1. An individual who feloniously and intentionally kills or conspires to kill or procures the killing of another individual forfeits the right to take an interest from the decedent’s estate, including, but not limited to, the right to recover under Code Sections 19-7-1, 51-4-2, or 51-4-4, and to serve as a personal representative or trustee of the decedent’s estate or any trust created by the decedent. For purposes of this Code section, the killing or conspiring to kill or procuring another to kill is felonious and intentional if the killing would constitute murder or felony murder or voluntary manslaughter under the laws of this state.
2. An individual who forfeits the right to take an interest from a decedent’s estate by virtue of this Code section forfeits the right to take any interest such individual would otherwise take at the decedent’s death by intestacy, year’s support, will, deed, power of appointment, the right to recover under Code Sections 19-7-1, 51-4-2, or 51-4-4, or by any other conveyance duly executed during life by the decedent and is treated as having predeceased the decedent for purposes of determining the distribution of the decedent’s property and of appointing personal representatives or trustees.
3. This Code section shall have no effect on the rights of the descendants of the individual who forfeits the right to take from the decedent’s estate; provided, however, that if the descendants are taking by intestacy in place of the individual who forfeits, the descendants may take only that share of the decedent’s estate to which the individual who forfeits would have been entitled. The provisions of Code Section 53-4-64 shall not apply with respect to the descendants of the individual who forfeits the right to take from the decedent’s estate unless those descendants are also descendants of the decedent.
4. A final judgment of conviction or a guilty plea for murder, felony murder, or voluntary manslaughter is conclusive in civil proceedings under this Code section. In the absence of such a conviction or plea, the felonious and intentional killing must be established by clear and convincing evidence.

History. Code 1981, § 53-1-5 , enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 2022, p. 669, § 2/SB 543.

The 2022 amendment, effective July 1, 2022, inserted “, including, but not limited to, the right to recover under Code Sections 19-7-1, 51-4-2, or 51-4-4,” in the first sentence in subsection (a); and inserted “the right to recover under Code Sections 19-7-1, 51-4-2, or 51-4-4,” in the middle of subsection (b).

Cross references.

Homicide generally, § 16-5-1 et seq.

Denial of right of person who commits murder or voluntary manslaughter to receive benefits from insurance policy on life of victim, § 33-25-13 .

Law reviews.

For article, “The Time Gap in Wills: Problems Under Georgia’s Lapse Statutes,” see 6 Ga. L. Rev. 268 (1972).

For article discussing effect of homicide on succession by the slayer, and devolution of his share, see 10 Ga. L. Rev. 447 (1976).

For annual survey of law on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 365 (2010).

For article, “Killers Shouldn’t Inherit from their Victims - Or Should They?,” see 48 Ga. L. Rev. 145 (2013).

For annual survey on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 66 Mercer L. Rev. 231 (2014).

For note, “Not Just For Kids: Why Georgia’s Statutory Disinheritance of Deadbeat Parents Should Extend to Intestate Adults,” see 43 Ga. L. Rev. 867 (2009).

For note, “Vesting Title in a Murderer: Where is the Equity in the Georgia Supreme Court’s Interpretation of the Slayer Statute in Levenson?,” see 45 Ga. L. Rev. 877 (2011).