Killed your mother-in-law? You can’t benefit from her estate. Duh.

This may have been the first time I’ve ever used the dumb expression “Duh.” But gee, doesn’t this judicial decision reported in the New York Law Journal call for it?

Brandon Palladino
Brandon Palladino

Citing the “clear causal link” between a man’s unlawful killing of his mother-in-law and the benefits he stood to gain, a Brooklyn appellate court has ruled that wrongdoers cannot indirectly inherit a victim’s assets.

The Appellate Division, Second Department, took up the issue of first impression in the fight over Dianne Edwards’ estate and whether her son-in-law Brandon Palladino, who pleaded to manslaughter after her strangulation death, was entitled to the money from his late wife’s estate.

I threw in that NYLJ photo of the hopeful claimant, just so you can view a portrait of über-chutzpah.

Here’s the whole article:Panel Blocks Man’s Effort to Benefit From Victim’s Estate | New York Law Journal.

P.S. I’d love to start a category called “Trusts and Estates and Murder,” but I don’t expect this sort of story will pop up again. At least not soon.

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