IN RE ESTATE OF JOHN ALFRED FAIRWEATHER, A/K/A JOHN A. FAIRWEATHER, DECEASED. ALAN MCPHEE, JAMES WILLIAM FAIRWEATHER, GERALD FAIRWEATHER, JOYCE PALM, AND GERALDINE CORINETTI, APPELLANTS,
v.
ELISA M. FAIRWEATHER, SANDRA K. KLAMO, GEORGE E. FAIRWEATHER, AND JAY B. FAIRWEATHER, APPELLEES
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A surviving spouse convicted of murdering the decedent cannot inherit from the decedent's estate, and the estate passes as if the spouse predeceased the decedent.
[1] A person convicted of murdering a decedent is barred from inheriting from the decedent's estate.
[2] When a devisee is convicted of murdering the decedent, the devisee's share of the estate passes as if the devisee predeceased the decedent.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe decedent's will devised his estate to his second wife, with a contingent devise to appellees if she predeceased him. The wife murdered the deceden…
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OTT, Chief Judge.
The decedent’s will devised his entire estate to his second wife and in the event she predeceased him to appellees, the children of the decedent and his second wife.1 The decedent died from a gunshot wound inflicted by his second wife. She pled guilty to second degree murder. The trial court found that by operation of section 732.802, Florida Statutes (1981), the decedent’s entire estate would pass to appellees. Appellants, a half brother, brother, and children of the decedent and his first wife, argue that the decedent’s property should be dis tributed in accordance with the laws of intestate succession.2 We affirm.
Section 732.8023 provides:
Murderer
A person convicted of the murder of a decedent shall not be entitled to inherit from the decedent or to take any part of his estate as a devisee. The part of the decedent’s estate to which the murderer would otherwise be entitled shall pass to the persons entitled to it as though the murderer had died during the lifetime of the decedent.
Appellants argue that a condition precedent to the bequest to appellees has not occurred, that being the natural death of the second wife. Appellants argue that the “statutory” death of the decedent’s second wife does not fulfill the condition precedent, therefore, the conditional bequest to appellees must fail.
Although we find no case wherein this argument is discussed, the statute itself is clear. The decedent’s estate “shall pass as though the murderer [the second wife] had died during the lifetime of [the] decedent.” Id. Appellees are entitled to the entire estate under the will. The decision of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
HOBSON and SCHEB, JJ., concur. . Appellee Jay B. Fairweather was the natural child of the decedent and his second wife. The remaining appellees were children of the second wife adopted by the decedent.
. See § 732.1Ó1, et seq., Fla.Stat. (1981).
. This statute was amended by chapter 82-71, section 1, Laws of Florida, effective April 2, 1982. The decedent died prior to the effective date of the amendment.
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Anderson v. Anderson, 468 So. 2d 528 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…ysterious or criminal circumstances. Furthermore, we note that the Second District Court of Appeal has twice refused to apply the amended statute retroactively, Nunez v. Gonzalez, 456 So. 2d 1336, 1337 n. 2 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); McPhee v. Fairweather, 444 So. 2d 464, 465 n. 3 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983), rev. denied, 451 So. 2d 849 (Fla.1984), and neither shall we. Therefore, we find that appellee’s right to inherit was fixed by the statute in effect on the decedent’s date of death. Since that statute required a crimina…
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