The slayer rule is a principle of law that prevents a person who unlawfully and intentionally kills another from profiting financially from that killing. In Georgia, the rule is set out by statute, and it has consequences both for inheritance and for the distribution of a wrongful death recovery.
The Statutory Basis in Georgia
Georgia’s slayer rule is found in O.C.G.A. § 53-1-5. The statute provides that an individual who feloniously and intentionally kills, or who conspires to kill or procures the killing of, another individual forfeits certain rights connected to the decedent. The killer forfeits the right to take an interest from the decedent’s estate and forfeits the right to serve as a personal representative or trustee of the decedent’s estate or of a trust created by the decedent.
The legal effect is that the share that would have gone to the killer is distributed as though the killer had predeceased the decedent. In other words, the law treats the killer as if that person died first, so the property passes to whoever would inherit if the killer were not alive.
What Kind of Killing Triggers the Rule
The rule applies to a killing that is both felonious and intentional. Under O.C.G.A. § 53-1-5, the killing is felonious and intentional if it would constitute murder, felony murder, or voluntary manslaughter under Georgia law. The statute specifically does not apply to homicide by vehicle as defined in O.C.G.A. § 40-6-393. A death caused by negligent or even reckless driving, without the intentional element the statute requires, does not trigger the slayer rule.
How the Killing Can Be Established
The slayer rule does not require a criminal conviction in every case. Under O.C.G.A. § 53-1-5, the felonious and intentional nature of the killing may be established by a criminal conviction or a guilty plea. It may also be established in a civil proceeding by clear and convincing evidence. This matters because criminal and civil cases use different standards of proof, and a person could be found responsible under the civil standard even where a criminal case did not result in a conviction.
How the Slayer Rule Interacts With a Wrongful Death Claim
A wrongful death claim and the inheritance rules are related but separate. The wrongful death claim is governed by Chapter 4 of Title 51 of the Georgia Code, and the recovery is divided among the statutory beneficiaries, generally the surviving spouse and children, with parents and the estate in later positions.
The slayer rule’s purpose is to prevent the killer from receiving a financial benefit from the death. Applied to a wrongful death recovery, this means a person barred under the slayer rule does not share in the recovery for the death that person caused. The portion that would otherwise have gone to the slayer is handled as though the slayer had predeceased the decedent, so it passes to the remaining eligible beneficiaries.
A clear illustration is a case in which a spouse intentionally and feloniously kills the other spouse. The surviving spouse would ordinarily hold the primary right to a wrongful death claim and a substantial share of any recovery. Under the slayer rule, that spouse is treated as having predeceased the decedent, which removes that spouse from the line of beneficiaries and prevents the spouse from controlling the claim or sharing in its proceeds. The claim and the recovery then pass to the next eligible beneficiaries, such as the decedent’s children or parents.
What the Rule Does Not Do
The slayer rule is limited in scope. It prevents the killer from benefiting from the slain person and from serving as a fiduciary over the slain person’s estate or trust. It does not, by itself, alter the distribution of the killer’s own separate property or estate. It also does not create the wrongful death claim; it only governs whether a particular person may share in or control a recovery that exists under the wrongful death statutes.
The Rule Reflects a Broader Principle
The slayer rule expresses a long-recognized principle that a wrongdoer should not be allowed to profit from a serious intentional wrong. Georgia has placed that principle into statute through O.C.G.A. § 53-1-5, giving it definite boundaries: it applies to felonious and intentional killings that amount to murder, felony murder, or voluntary manslaughter, it can be established either criminally or by clear and convincing evidence in a civil proceeding, and it excludes vehicular homicide.
Summary
Georgia’s slayer rule, codified at O.C.G.A. § 53-1-5, bars a person who feloniously and intentionally kills another from inheriting from the decedent and from serving as a fiduciary of the decedent’s estate. Because it treats the killer as having predeceased the decedent, it also prevents that person from controlling a wrongful death claim or sharing in a wrongful death recovery for the death they caused, redirecting that share to the remaining eligible beneficiaries.
Disclaimer
This article is provided strictly for general educational and informational purposes. It is intended to explain how Georgia law works as a matter of public legal education, and it does not constitute legal advice, a legal opinion, or a recommendation about any particular course of action. Reading this article, or contacting the website on which it appears, does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and any law firm, attorney, or author.
The law changes over time. Statutes, regulations, court rules, and judicial decisions discussed here may have been amended, repealed, superseded, or reinterpreted after the date of publication, and citations to specific code sections or cases reflect the law only as it was understood when this article was written. The application of any legal principle also depends heavily on the specific facts and circumstances of an individual matter, and outcomes vary from case to case.
For these reasons, no one should rely on this article as a substitute for advice from a licensed Georgia attorney who can review the particular facts involved. The author and publisher make no warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or applicability of the information provided, and disclaim any liability for any action taken or not taken based on this content.