Skip to Content

We are a Veteran Owned Business, providing 20% discounts for Veterans, First Responders, Elementary and High School teachers. Please contact us to set up a phone or Zoom meeting. Taking care of you and your family, It's What We Do!

Theft-Disqualify-A-Beneficiary-From-Inheriting

Does Theft Disqualify A Beneficiary From Inheriting?

Posted on Tue Aug 30, 2016, on Estate Litigation

From our Ask a Question Mailbag: Does Theft Disqualify A Beneficiary From Inheriting? 

Most Recently Updated August 8, 2018.

“As the executor of my mother’s Montgomery County estate, I was able to prove that my brother stole from my mom.  The judge ordered him to return the money. My mother’s Will divides the assets between all the children equally.  Is my brother disqualified from inheriting his share?”

Does Theft Disqualify A Beneficiary From Inheriting?

People who murder a parent are disqualified from inheriting from that parent.  But, believe it or not, no law disqualifies a child from inheriting from a parent because the child stole money from the deceased parent.

Ask the judge to make the thief shoulder the cost of recovering the stolen funds.

Petitions to the judge asking for a child to return stolen property are quite common.  Sometimes the petition asks the judge to return stolen jewelry.  I have had cases where a child (or child’s spouse) has taken jewelry right from the parent’s body at the funeral home.  Other times the petition addresses far more extensive bad acts, such as forging deeds or wrongfully shifting large sums of money from the parent’s account into the child’s account.

For more information, see my website regarding Trust and Estate Litigation.

The courts overseeing these petitions have the power to order the child to return a wrongfully taken asset.  The court doesn’t have the power to change the deceased’s Will to remove the person as an heir.  BUT, judges have the power to order the child who stole assets to pay the recovery costs.  It’s the judge’s discretion.  If the judge believes a child’s wrongful act was the sole cause of an expense, then instead of all the heirs sharing in the cost of recovery the judge may order the child’s share reduced to cover the expense.  This decision is up to the judge, but it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Further Estate Litigation Questions?

Disqualifying a beneficiary from inheriting due to theft is only one of many Estate Litigation issues our firm addresses. Consequently, if you want to learn more, please read my more detailed article, Trust and Estate Litigation All You Need to Know.

In Conclusion: Does Theft Disqualify A Beneficiary From Inheriting

I hope that this article was helpful in explaining Does Theft Disqualify A Beneficiary From Inheriting. Further, I included links to even more detailed information on my website. Therefore, please contact me and let me know how I did. Certainly, your comments and questions are welcome!

Let our Litigation Lawyers help walk you through what can be a confusing process. To begin with, call to speak to one of our experienced Litigation Attorneys.  By all means, our lawyers are ready to answer your questions. In fact, feel free to contact our office for a free consultation. Ultimately our goal is to put our 25 years of estate litigation experience to work for you.

Wills, Trusts, Probate, and Estate Litigation It’s All We Do!

Tags:

Beneficiary, Estate Litigation, Estate Litigation Attorney, Estate Litigation Lawyer, Executor, Glen Ridenour, Will Challenges, Will Contests, Wills

Peter KlenkPeter Klenk

What Our clients are saying

Klenk Law Logo
Stars

Sydney Magerman

Daniella was fantastically wonderful. A joy to be around and filled our conversations with so much educational knowledge. I’ve learned so much from her about being a great person and I can’t wait to work with her again

Klenk Law Logo
Stars

Richard Test

Very knowledgeable and easy to work with. Also very competitive pricing. Recommended to me by another attorney. First class service from start to finish.

Klenk Law Logo
Stars

Chris Kurdelski

Transparent approach and pricing, with prompt and professional response. They understand the various sensitivities of estate planning. Cannot recommend the firm more highly., go with Klenk

Klenk Law Logo
Stars

hinda schuman

very happy to deal with Peter Klenk law firm over many decades

Klenk Law Logo
Stars

CEGM

Peters' firm has prepared and updated our Wills and Trusts for the last 15 to 20 years. They know the law and help with your decision making to use the law to your best advantage. Response time to your requests is very reasonable, and final reviews and signing is executed in a timely manor with a thorough coverage of the documents. Our most recent updates to our Wills & Trusts were somewhat complicated, in our opinion, but Peter and his staff handled them effortlessly. As you can tell from this review Peter Klenk's firm is top notch.

Let us put our expertise to work for you.

Free consultation within 24 hours.