In modern U.S. usage, forfeiture is deprivation or destruction of a right in consequence of the non-performance of some obligation or condition.[1] It can be accidental, and therefore is distinguished from waiver. In the law of England and Wales, the forfeiture rule is the rule of law which prevents a killer from inheriting the estate of a person they have unlawfully killed.[2] The term also refers to the rule in English law under which an insured person who makes a fraudulent insurance claim loses their claim: this rule was derived from common law until the passage of the Insurance Act 2015, which "puts the common law rule of forfeiture on a statutory footing".[3]
- ^ Connellan v. Federal Life & Casualty Co., 134 ME 104 (1935).
- ^ Law Commission, The Forfeiture Rule and the Law of Succession, Cm 6625, p. 2, published July 2005, accessed 22 September 2023
- ^ UK Legislation, Insurance Act 2015: Explanatory Notes: Commentary on Sections - Part 4: Fraudulent Claims, accessed 22 September 2023