![\"Michaela](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ab26b9357499fdacb1cdd0be7daf9c7eb896381f.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
September 27, 2026 \u2014 1:30pm<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n In a chilling attack, a man stabbed his former wife to death after a bitter divorce \u2013 but he stood to inherit everything under her will.<\/p>\n A Sydney court was asked to make orders about how the woman\u2019s estate should be administered after her tragic death.<\/p>\n \u201cThe law\u2019s message is blunt: you cannot kill your way into an inheritance,\u201d said succession law expert Mary-Ann de Mestre, principal of Sydney law firm M de Mestre Lawyers.<\/p>\n In its decision last month, the NSW Supreme Court examined the law of forfeiture, under which a person responsible for a deceased\u2019s unlawful killing is barred from inheriting a share of their estate.<\/p>\n The woman in this case had made a will in 2012, before the couple separated in 2015.<\/p>\n She left her estate to her husband. In the event she outlived him, it was to be distributed between their children.<\/p>\n The court heard the former couple was involved in Family Court property settlement proceedings in Australia in about 2018, which were ultimately dismissed.<\/p>\n \u2018The law\u2019s message is blunt: you cannot kill your way into an inheritance.\u2019<\/p>\n Mary-Ann de Mestre, principal of Sydney law firm M de Mestre Lawyers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe family law proceedings were the catalyst for what followed,\u201d Justice Francois Kunc said in his judgment.<\/p>\n The identities of parties to family law proceedings cannot be reported.<\/p>\n In 2018, the offender sold two of the three properties the former couple had owned, including a home on Sydney\u2019s lower north shore. When the ex-wife became aware of this, she lodged a caveat preventing the sale of the third property.<\/p>\n Months later, the offender fatally stabbed the deceased overseas, the judge said.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause this is a civil proceeding, the court must be satisfied on the civil standard \u2013 the balance of probabilities \u2013 that the offender unlawfully killed the deceased,\u201d Kunc said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe evidence proves that the offender was convicted of murder by … [an overseas] court.\u201d<\/p>\n The judge said there was evidence before the NSW court of \u201cunequivocal admissions by the offender\u201d.<\/p>\n Related Article In one document, the man wrote that he had told police: \u201cIt\u2019s the divorce laws that are responsible for me having committed this crime.\u201d<\/p>\n After his conviction overseas, he said his confidence in the legal system had been \u201cgravely damaged\u201d because of \u201cthe line of argument used in the court\u2019s judgment\u201d.<\/p>\n But he admitted that \u201cI killed my wife\u201d and said it was \u201csomething that I am not trivialising at all\u201d.<\/p>\n The judge relied chiefly on those admissions in finding, on the balance of probabilities, that the man had murdered his ex-wife.<\/p>\n The executor of the woman\u2019s estate applied to the court for a declaration about how the assets should be administered.<\/p>\n \u201cThe effect of the forfeiture rule is that the offender is disentitled from taking any interest in the estate, and is to be treated as notionally non\u2011existent,\u201d the judge said. It left the children as sole beneficiaries.<\/p>\n The judge said that half of the proceeds from the sale of the former couple\u2019s jointly-owned properties were held on trust for the estate.<\/p>\n \u2018Exceptionally rare\u2019 decisionsRelated Article \u201cFew areas of succession law are more confronting: the court cannot undo the killing, but it can ensure the killer does not turn it into a payday,\u201d said de Mestre, a lecturer at Macquarie University.<\/p>\n She said published forfeiture decisions were \u201cexceptionally rare\u201d. A criminal conviction was not essential for the rule to apply, de Mestre said.<\/p>\n \u201cA civil court can determine for itself whether the person unlawfully killed the deceased, applying the [lower] civil standard of proof,\u201d she said. \u201cEven a criminal acquittal does not necessarily resolve the civil question because the standards of proof are different.\u201d<\/p>\n The forfeiture rule is not limited to murder and extends to other unlawful killings, such as manslaughter.<\/p>\n However, under NSW law, the court may modify the effect of the forfeiture rule<\/a> in cases that do not involve murder. In a 2021 case, the Supreme Court modified the rule to allow a husband who unintentionally caused his wife\u2019s death by dangerous driving to inherit her estate.<\/p>\n Related Article Conversely, in a 2018 decision, the court applied the rule to a mentally ill son who killed his parents but was found not guilty of murder by reason of mental illness. He was \u201cprevented from receiving approximately $1 million, although $100,000 was preserved in trust for his maintenance\u201d, de Mestre said.<\/p>\n While the offender\u2019s motive is generally irrelevant, she said, \u201cthe nature of the offence and the offender\u2019s moral culpability may be relevant if the court is asked to modify the rule\u201d.<\/p>\n The rule applies automatically, and a court order is not strictly necessary. But de Mestre said that in practice \u201can executor, trustee, insurer or other stakeholder will usually seek Supreme Court declarations before redirecting an inheritance or dealing with jointly-owned property\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe order determines precisely where the property should go and protects the executor from personal liability for distributing it incorrectly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), the Men\u2019s Referral Service on 1300 766 491, Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 22 4636.<\/p>\n Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts<\/a> on email or turn on notifications in the app.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eb75341b7b818aedfe97bff008a5f03660bb972a55ef411dccbad707a5ab42b9.jpeg\")
The man admitted he murdered his former wife, the NSW Supreme Court heard.Matt Willis<\/p>\n![\"It](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fcffaf1738861bc0a8ae78550f334ceb7847e8bdcbe8fa864cc93ef0f60e9063.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a731e26acdce774f3d5716b03c2669eebdb9a892fe3784b26af9eba299cd9215.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/09d2029d52a39cf388ed50cdbfe4f92fa158295887df61d7a9a95c53d3e66bd2.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n