15 Guam Code Ann. § 819
Terms Used In 15 Guam Code Ann. § 819
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Probate: Proving a will
- Right of survivorship: The ownership rights that result in the acquisition of title to property by reason of having survived other co-owners.
- Testate: To die leaving a will.
(1) No person convicted of the murder or manslaughter, as defined in §§ 16.30, 16.40 and 16.50 of Chapter 16, Title 9, Guam Code Annotated, of the decedent shall be entitled to succeed to any portion of such decedent’s estate; but the portion thereof to which such convicted person would otherwise be entitled to succeed goes to the other persons entitled thereto under the applicable provisions of Chapters 9, 10 and 11 of this Title.
(2) A surviving person who causes, solicits, or conspires to cause the death of the decedent is not entitled to any benefits under the will or under Guam law, and the estate of the decedent passes as if the slayer had predeceased the decedent. Property appointed by the will of the decedent to or for the benefit of the slayer passes as if the slayer had predeceased the decedent.
(3) Any joint tenant who causes, or solicits, or conspires to cause the death of another joint tenant thereby effects a severance of the interest of the decedent so that the share of the decedent passes as the decedent’s property and the slayer has no rights by survivorship. This provision applies to joint tenancies with right of survivorship and tenancies by the entirety in real and personal property; joint and multiple-party accounts in banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, and other institutions; and any other form of co-ownership with survivorship incidents.
(4) A named beneficiary of a bond, life insurance policy, or other contractual arrangement who causes, or solicits, or conspires to cause the death of the principal obligee or the person upon whose life the policy is issued is not entitled to any benefit under the bond, policy, or other contractual arrangement; and it becomes payable as though the slayer had predeceased the decedent.
(5) Any other acquisition of property or interest by the slayer, including a life estate in homestead property, shall be treated in accordance with the principles of this Section.
COL10312014
15 Guam Code Ann. ESTATES AND PROBATE
CH. 8 SUCCESSION & SECURITIES TRANSFER
(6) A final judgment of conviction of murder or manslaughter, as defined in §§ 16.30, 16.40 and 16.50 of Chapter
16, Title 9, Guam Code Annotated, is conclusive for purposes of this Section. In the absence of a conviction of murder or
manslaughter, as defined in §§ 16.30, 16.40 and 16.50 of Chapter
16, Title 9, Guam Code Annotated, in any degree, the court may determine by the greater weight of the evidence whether the killing
was committed unlawfully, and intentionally or recklessly, for purposes of this Section.
(7) This Section does not affect the rights of any person who, before rights under this Section have been adjudicated, purchases from the slayer, for value and without notice, property which the slayer would have acquired except for this Section, but the slayer is liable for the amount of the proceeds or the value of the property.
(8) Any insurance company, bank, or other obligor making payment according to the terms of its policy or obligation is not liable by reason of this Section unless prior to payment it has received at its home office or principal address written notice of a claim under this Section.
(b) Definition of Estate and Property. For purposes of this Section, as provided above, in addition to other definitions highlighted in Guam’s laws or regulations, the terms estate or property shall be defined to include the following: qualified defined benefit plans; qualified defined contribution plans; governmental defined benefit plans; governmental defined contribution plans; non-qualified deferred compensation plans; individual retirement arrangements (IRA); 529 college savings plans; health savings accounts; and flexible spending accounts.
SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 258 (prior to 1963 amendment). Repealed and added by P.L. 32-127:1 (Feb. 10, 2014).
2014 NOTE: This section was originally entitled, “”No Succession by Person Convicted of Murder or Voluntary Manslaughter.”” Repealed by P.L. 32-127:1 (Feb. 10, 2014).
COMMENT: Section 258 of the Probate Code of Guam (1970) precluded only persons convicted of the decedent’s murder from succeeding to the decedent’s estate. Section 819 also precludes persons convicted of the decedent’s voluntary manslaughter. See § 121, supra, for a similar provision in the testate situation.