Florida enacted the Slayer Statute in 1974 to cement the common law principle that “no person should be permitted to benefit from his own wrong.” See Carter v. Carter, 88 So. 2d 153, 157 (Fla. 1956). Yet until now, the statute failed to extend its reach to penalize abuse, neglect, exploitation and aggravated manslaughter against the state’s most vulnerable residents.

The statute (Section 732.802) provides that someone who “unlawfully and intentionally kills or participates in procuring the death of a decedent is not entitled to receive any benefits under the will or under the Florida Probate Code and the estate of the decedent passes as if the killer had predeceased the decedent.”