Case Summary:
A few months after filing bankruptcy, the Debtor was convicted of first-degree homicide for the murder of his mother. From prison, he filed a pro se adversary proceeding seeking, among other things, a finding that his bankruptcy estate had an interest in proceeds from his mother’s life insurance policies. The defendants’ motion to dismiss argued that the Debtor’s interest in the life insurance proceeds was severed upon his conviction by operation of Wis. Stat. § 854.14, Wisconsin’s “slayer’s statute.” The Debtor argued that he was entitled to exhaust his appellate remedies before the statute could be applied.

At the time the defendant’s motion to dismiss was filed, that question—whether the slayer statute applied upon conviction or awaited the completion of an appeal—was a matter of first impression in Wisconsin. While the motion to dismiss was pending, however, the Debtor’s criminal conviction was affirmed by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Concluding that the affirmance mooted the legal question raised by the motion to dismiss, the Bankruptcy Court held that the slayer’s statute severed the Debtor’s interest in the proceeds as of the date of his mother’s death, thereby depriving the bankruptcy estate of any interest. The Court explained further that even if the affirmance had not exhausted the Debtor’s appellate remedies, the slayer’s statute was triggered by the Debtor’s conviction. Accordingly, it granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Statute/Rule References:
11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(1)
Wis. Stat. § 854.14 -- Slayer's Statute

Key Terms:
Property of the Estate