Views sought on inheritance rights of convicted killers

The body charged with recommending law reforms to Government is seeking views on possible changes to the inheritance rights of convicted killers. Irish succession law states that a person may not inherit any part of the estate of someone he or she has murdered, attempted to murder or killed by to manslaughter.

The Succession Act 1965 also specifies that if a person had at any time been convicted of a serious offence committed against the dead person, he or she may be precluded from taking a share of the dead person’s estate.

Problems with the law have recently come to light, notably in relation to spousal homicides where the killer and the deceased were joint owners of a property such as the family home. In co-ownership cases, where one of the spouses dies, the entire interest in the property automatically passes to the surviving joint owner.

The issue arose in 2012, when family members of the late Celine Cawley brought High Court proceedings aimed at preventing Eamonn Lillis, her husband and killer, from securing any interest in assets jointly owned by himself and Ms Cawley. The High Court ruled that under current law, Lillis was entitled to his half interest in assets jointly owned by himself and his late wife, including the couple's family home in Howth, Co Dublin.

Ms Justice Mary Laffoy decided that the interest of Ms Cawley should be held by Lillis in trust for the dead woman's daughter and suggested that the law should be reviewed. Lillis subsequently came to an agreement with the representatives of his late wife's estate in relation to the assets.

In a new consultation paper, the Law Reform Commission is seeking views on potential changes to this aspect of the Succession Act. Among the questions raised in the paper are whether the legal title should pass to the unlawful killer to hold the victim's interest on trust for the benefit of the victim's estate, as decided in Cawley v Lillis, or should the joint tenancy be severed.

The commission is also considering whether the current law should be extended to other forms of homicide and whether it should be possible for a court to modify the forfeiture rule. It notes that other countries have a similar forfeiture rule but have included a wider definition of homicide, such as dangerous driving causing death.

The paper is available at www.lawreform.ie