By Palmer H.B. No. 1508
76R2193 CLG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the forfeiture of rights and interests of certain
1-3 heirs, devisees, legatees, owners, and donees.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 41, Texas Probate Code, is amended by
1-6 amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (e), (f), (g), and
1-7 (h) to read as follows:
1-8 (d) Convicted Persons and Suicides. No conviction shall
1-9 work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate, except as
1-10 provided by Subsection (e) of this section [in the case of a
1-11 beneficiary in a life insurance policy or contract who is
1-12 convicted and sentenced as a principal or accomplice in wilfully
1-13 bringing about the death of the insured, in which case the proceeds
1-14 of such insurance policy or contract shall be paid as provided in
1-15 the Insurance Code of this State, as same now exists or is
1-16 hereafter amended]; nor shall there be any forfeiture by reason of
1-17 death by casualty; and the estates of those who destroy their own
1-18 lives shall descend or vest as in the case of natural death.
1-19 (e) A person who is convicted of an offense under Section
1-20 19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code, or under the laws of another state for
1-21 an offense containing elements that are substantially similar to
1-22 the elements of an offense under Section 19.02 or 19.03, Penal
1-23 Code, shall forfeit:
1-24 (1) a right or interest granted to the person under
2-1 the terms of a decedent's will or by inheritance from a decedent's
2-2 estate if the decedent was the victim of the offense, including:
2-3 (A) an interest in property; and
2-4 (B) a power of appointment over all or part of
2-5 the estate of the decedent;
2-6 (2) the proceeds of a life insurance policy or
2-7 contract if the person is designated as a beneficiary of the
2-8 proceeds and the insured was the victim of the offense; and
2-9 (3) an interest in property granted to the person by a
2-10 joint tenancy with a right of survivorship or by any other
2-11 survivorship agreement or account in which the interest of a
2-12 decedent passes to a surviving owner or owners if the person is
2-13 designated as an owner of the interest and the decedent was the
2-14 victim of the offense.
2-15 (f) A person who forfeits a right or interest described by
2-16 Subsection (e)(1) of this section is treated, for the purpose of
2-17 the distribution of the estate, as if the person predeceased the
2-18 decedent.
2-19 (g) The proceeds of a life insurance policy or contract
2-20 described by Subsection (e)(2) of this section shall be paid as
2-21 provided by Article 21.23, Insurance Code.
2-22 (h) The forfeiture of an interest described by Subsection
2-23 (e)(3) of this section effects a severance of the interest of the
2-24 decedent, and the forfeited interest passes as the decedent's
2-25 property.
2-26 SECTION 2. Article 1.19, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-27 amended to read as follows:
3-1 Art. 1.19. CORRUPTION OF BLOOD, ETC. Except as provided by
3-2 Section 41, Texas Probate Code, no [No] conviction shall work
3-3 corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
3-4 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect on the first day of the
3-5 calendar month following the month in which the constitutional
3-6 amendment proposed by _.J.R. No. ____, 76th Legislature, Regular
3-7 Session, 1999, takes effect. If that amendment is not approved by
3-8 the voters, this Act has no effect.
3-9 SECTION 4. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply
3-10 only to a person convicted of an offense committed on or after the
3-11 effective date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an
3-12 offense is committed before the effective date of this Act if any
3-13 element of the offense occurs before the effective date.
3-14 (b) A person who is convicted of an offense committed before
3-15 the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when
3-16 the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in
3-17 effect for that purpose.
3-18 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.