Murder

A beneficiary who commits the intentional act of murder against the insured may not recover the policy proceeds. In addition, that beneficiary's estate may not recover the proceeds if the beneficiary commits suicide after murdering the insured.

A conviction of murder is highly probative evidence to support the denial of the proceeds in most jurisdictions. However, if the beneficiary is not convicted, a hearing is necessary to determine if he intentionally and feloniously killed the insured.

Other crimes

A beneficiary who kills an insured may still be able to recover the policy proceeds in some instances, including the following:

• The killing was caused by the beneficiary's carelessness or negligence alone.
• The beneficiary was insane at the time of the killing.
• The beneficiary killed the insured in self-defense.
• The beneficiary committed involuntary manslaughter against the insured.
• It is questionable as to whether a blow by the beneficiary or some other action caused the insured's death.

Insurer liability

An insurer may avoid all liability under a murdered insured's life insurance policy if the policy was procured by the beneficiary while intending to murder the insured, if the policy specifically makes the contract entirely void in such contingency, or if there are no other heirs other than the beneficiary.

If one of these scenarios does not exist, the insurer is liable to pay the insurance proceeds, but not to the beneficiary. Instead, the proceeds are ordinarily payable to the insured's estate, the insured's other heirs, or a secondary beneficiary under the policy.

Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.