Guam § 819 - Guam Slayer’s Statute.

§ 819. Guam Slayer’s Statute.

(a) General Provisions.

(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.

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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.