Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.2803 — MI Code / Chapter 700 / Act Act-386-of-1998 / Section 700.2803
Forfeiture, revocation, or severance.
Status: in_force

Sec. 2803.

(1) An individual who feloniously and intentionally kills or who is convicted of committing abuse, neglect, or exploitation with respect to the decedent forfeits all benefits under this article with respect to the decedent's estate, including an intestate share, an elective share, an omitted spouse's or child's share, a homestead allowance, a family allowance, and exempt property. If the decedent died intestate, the decedent's intestate estate passes as if the killer or felon disclaimed his or her intestate share.

(2) The felonious and intentional killing or the conviction of the felon for the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the decedent does all of the following:

(a) Revokes all of the following that are revocable:

( i ) Disposition or appointment of property made by the decedent to the killer or felon in a governing instrument.

( ii ) Provision in a governing instrument conferring a general or nongeneral power of appointment on the killer or felon.

( iii ) Nomination of the killer or felon in a governing instrument, nominating or appointing the killer or felon to serve in a fiduciary or representative capacity, including a personal representative, executor, funeral representative, trustee, or agent.

(b) Severs the interests of the decedent and killer or felon in property held by them at the time of the killing, abuse, neglect, or exploitation as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, transforming the interests of the decedent and killer or felon into tenancies in common.

(c) Bars the killer or felon from exercising a power under section 3206(1).

(3) A severance under subsection (2)(b) does not affect a third party interest in property acquired for value and in good faith reliance on an apparent title by survivorship in the killer or felon unless a writing declaring the severance has been noted, registered, filed, or recorded in records appropriate to the kind and location of the property that are relied on, in the ordinary course of transactions involving that type of property, as evidence of ownership.

(4) A provision of a governing instrument is given effect as if the killer or felon disclaimed all provisions revoked by this section or, for a revoked nomination in a fiduciary or representative capacity, as if the killer or felon predeceased the decedent.

(5) A killer's or felon's wrongful acquisition of property or interest not covered by this section must be treated in accordance with the principle that a killer or felon cannot profit from his or her wrong.

(6) After all right to appeal has been exhausted, a judgment of conviction establishing criminal accountability for the felonious and intentional killing or the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the decedent conclusively establishes the convicted individual as the decedent's killer or as a felon, as applicable, for purposes of this section. With respect to a claim of felonious and intentional killing, in the absence of a conviction, the court, on the petition of an interested person, shall determine whether, under the preponderance of evidence standard, the individual would be found criminally accountable for the felonious and intentional killing of the decedent. If the court determines that, under that standard, the individual would be found criminally accountable for the felonious and intentional killing of the decedent, the determination conclusively establishes the individual as the decedent's killer for purposes of this section.

(7) This section does not apply if the forfeiture, revocation, or severance would occur because of abuse, neglect, or exploitation and the decedent executed a governing instrument after the date of the conviction expressing a specific intent to allow the felon to inherit or otherwise receive the estate or property of the decedent.

History: 1998, Act 386, Eff. Apr. 1, 2000; Am. 2012, Act 173, Eff. Oct. 1, 2012; Am. 2016, Act 57, Eff. June 27, 2016