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The topic of assisted dying is currently in the public spotlight with extensive press coverage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The area is legally complex, widely misunderstood, and its treatment varies across different jurisdictions.
This article is the second in a series exploring assisted suicide and its legal consequences.
Read the first article here: What is assisted dying?
Why is ‘relief from forfeiture’ relevant to assisted dying?
It is a serious criminal offence to intentionally encourage or assist a suicide or attempted suicide of another person.
What is often forgotten is that assisting a suicide also raises important civil law issues which can have significant financial consequences.
Assisting a suicide will also engage the Forfeiture Act 1982 (Forfeiture Act). This means that anyone who assists or encourages another person to commit suicide will forfeit (effectively ‘give up’) their interest in their loved one’s estate.
The Forfeiture Act applies automatically and does not require a criminal conviction.
What impact does this have on succession planning?
The Forfeiture Act can have a potentially destructive impact on careful succession planning.
The ‘assister’ is treated as having pre-deceased with the result that gifts under a Will may fail. Jointly owned property passing by survivorship is treated as severed and benefits payable under pensions or life policies may not take effect.
Where a spouse in particular has assisted a suicide, the estate may lose the benefit of the spousal exemption creating an unexpected inheritance tax liability and the security of the family home may be in doubt.
The net effect of the Forfeiture Act can be that those intended to be provided for are prevented from benefitting and are left financially vulnerable.
Is there anything I can do to avoid the Forfeiture Act?
The Forfeiture Act provides the Court with discretion to modify or relieve the impact of the forfeiture rule. A carefully prepared Court application will be required after the assisted suicide has taken place. If successful and at its simplest, the applicant should then be able to inherit from the Deceased.
Given the automatic application of the forfeiture rule, there is currently no alternative to the process of formally applying for relief.
Applications for relief from forfeiture need to be carefully managed. They fall at a time of grief, stress and uncertainly and therefore specialist advice is strongly recommended. If you would like advice on how these issues may affect you or your family, please contact Jasmine Ivory to sensitively discuss your circumstances.