SECTIONS 250-259 - California Statutes

PROBATE CODE

SECTION 250-259

250. (a) A person who feloniously and intentionally kills the
decedent is not entitled to any of the following:
(1) Any property, interest, or benefit under a will of the
decedent, or a trust created by or for the benefit of the decedent or
in which the decedent has an interest, including any general or
special power of appointment conferred by the will or trust on the
killer and any nomination of the killer as executor, trustee,
guardian, or conservator or custodian made by the will or trust.
(2) Any property of the decedent by intestate succession.
(3) Any of the decedent's quasi-community property the killer
would otherwise acquire under Section 101 or 102 upon the death of
the decedent.
(4) Any property of the decedent under Part 5 (commencing with
Section 5700) of Division 5.
(5) Any property of the decedent under Part 3 (commencing with
Section 6500) of Division 6.
(b) In the cases covered by subdivision (a):
(1) The property interest or benefit referred to in paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) passes as if the killer had predeceased the
decedent and Section 21110 does not apply.
(2) Any property interest or benefit referred to in paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) which passes under a power of appointment and by
reason of the death of the decedent passes as if the killer had
predeceased the decedent, and Section 673 not apply.
(3) Any nomination in a will or trust of the killer as executor,
trustee, guardian, conservator, or custodian which becomes effective
as a result of the death of the decedent shall be interpreted as if
the killer had predeceased the decedent.

251. A 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 section
applies to joint tenancies in real and personal property, joint and
multiple-party accounts in financial institutions, and any other form
of coownership with survivorship incidents.

252. A named beneficiary of a bond, life insurance policy, or other
contractual arrangement who feloniously and intentionally kills the
principal obligee or the person upon whose life the policy is issued
is not entitled to any benefit under the bond, policy, or other
contractual arrangement, and it becomes payable as though the killer
had predeceased the decedent.

253. In any case not described in Section 250, 251, or 252 in which
one person feloniously and intentionally kills another, any
acquisition of property, interest, or benefit by the killer as a
result of the killing of the decedent shall be treated in accordance
with the principles of this part.

254. (a) A final judgment of conviction of felonious and
intentional killing is conclusive for purposes of this part.
(b) In the absence of a final judgment of conviction of felonious
and intentional killing, the court may determine by a preponderance
of evidence whether the killing was felonious and intentional for
purposes of this part. The burden of proof is on the party seeking to
establish that the killing was felonious and intentional for the
purposes of this part.

255. This part does not affect the rights of any person who, before
rights under this part have been adjudicated, purchases from the
killer for value and without notice property which the killer would
have acquired except for this part, but the killer is liable for the
amount of the proceeds or the value of the property.

256. An insurance company, financial institution, or other obligor
making payment according to the terms of its policy or obligation is
not liable by reason of this part, unless prior to payment it has
received at its home office or principal address written notice of a
claim under this part.

257. This part does not apply where the decedent was killed before
January 1, 1985; and the law applicable prior to January 1, 1985,
continues to apply where the decedent was killed before January 1,
1985.

258. A person who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent
is not entitled to bring an action for wrongful death of the decedent
or to benefit from the action brought by the decedent's personal
representative. The persons who may bring an action for wrongful
death of the decedent and to benefit from the action are determined
as if the killer had predeceased the decedent.

259. (a) Any person shall be deemed to have predeceased a decedent
to the extent provided in subdivision (c) where all of the following
apply:
(1) It has been proven by clear and convincing evidence that the
person is liable for physical abuse, neglect, or fiduciary abuse of
the decedent, who was an elder or dependent adult.
(2) The person is found to have acted in bad faith.
(3) The person has been found to have been reckless, oppressive,
fraudulent, or malicious in the commission of any of these acts upon
the decedent.
(4) The decedent, at the time those acts occurred and thereafter
until the time of his or her death, has been found to have been
substantially unable to manage his or her financial resources or to
resist fraud or undue influence.
(b) Any person shall be deemed to have predeceased a decedent to
the extent provided in subdivision (c) if that person has been
convicted of a violation of Section 236 of the Penal Code or any
offense described in Section 368 of the Penal Code.
(c) Any person found liable under subdivision (a) or convicted
under subdivision (b) shall not (1) receive any property, damages, or
costs that are awarded to the decedent's estate in an action
described in subdivision (a) or (b), whether that person's
entitlement is under a will, a trust, or the laws of intestacy; or
(2) serve as a fiduciary as defined in Section 39, if the instrument
nominating or appointing that person was executed during the period
when the decedent was substantially unable to manage his or her
financial resources or resist fraud or undue influence. This section
shall not apply to a decedent who, at any time following the act or
acts described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), or the act or
acts described in subdivision (b), was substantially able to manage
his or her financial resources and to resist fraud or undue influence
within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 1801 of the Probate
Code and subdivision (b) of Section 39 of the Civil Code.
(d) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) Physical abuse as defined in Section 15610.63 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code.
(2) Neglect as defined in Section 15610.57 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
(3) False imprisonment as defined in Section 368 of the Penal
Code.
(4) Fiduciary abuse as defined in Section 15610.30 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
severance and transfer of an action or proceeding to a separate civil
action pursuant to Section 801.