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Full-Text Articles in Law
Slayers And Soldiers: The Validity And Scope Of The Slayer's Rule Under The Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Act, Rebecca Blasco
Slayers And Soldiers: The Validity And Scope Of The Slayer's Rule Under The Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Act, Rebecca Blasco
Washington Law Review
The "slayer's rule"—a common law doctrine—precludes a murderer from financially benefiting from the victim's death by denying him or her the right to proceeds from the victim's life insurance policy. Some jurisdictions have extended this rule to disqualify the slayer's exclusive family members from receiving the victim's insurance proceeds as beneficiaries. Exclusive family members are those either not related to the victim or related to the victim only by marriage. The slayer's rule applies to federal group life insurance policies, such as the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Act (SGLI), which provides life insurance to servicemembers. Spouses and dependent children of …
Pro Se Executors—Unauthorized Practice Of Law, Or Not?, Michael Hatfield
Pro Se Executors—Unauthorized Practice Of Law, Or Not?, Michael Hatfield
Articles
This Article clarifies why under Texas law an individual named as executor in a will has the right to offer the will for probate and otherwise appear in a probate court without hiring a lawyer. This Article first provides an overview of the independent administration provisions of the Texas probate code before reviewing the unauthorized practice of law prohibition and the pro se exception. After establishing that executors qualify for the pro se exception in Texas because executors appearing in court are exercising their own management rights—rather than the rights of "the estate" or the beneficiaries—the Article explores suggestions of …