Getting away with murder?

In cases of murder and insurance, the Forfeiture Rule (under the Forfeiture Rule and Law Succession Act 2011, see below) comes into play. This is a principle of public policy that a person who ‘unlawfully kills’ another should not benefit financially from this. Where murder has occurred, the insurer should wait until the end of the court process as a payment made too early and to the wrong person may not be recoverable. While the basic principle is simple, the Forfeiture Rule can be hard to apply. The rule has been developed in numerous cases, including the aptly-named Cleaver v...