On December 15, 2025, Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home. Their son, Nick Reiner, was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. While California law will ultimately decide his fate and will determine whether Nick Reiner can inherit from his parents, the incident raises a critical question: How would the Slayer Rule be applied if these deaths had occurred here in Texas?
The Statutory Side of the Slayer Rule in Texas:
While the Reiner case is unfolding in California, Texas has its own version of the “Slayer Rule”. Unlike states with a single comprehensive statute, Texas manages these cases through a combination of codified law and judicial precedent. The Texas Slayer Rule is an equitable principle designed to prevent a murderer from receiving property interests or insurance benefits from their victim. Below are the two instances where we find the Slayer Rules codified under Texas law.
- The Texas Insurance Code §1103.151: “A beneficiary of a life insurance policy or contract forfeits the beneficiary’s interest in the policy or contract if the beneficiary is a principal or an accomplice in willfully bringing about the death of the insured.”
What does this mean? If someone is named as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy and is responsible (in whole OR in part) for the death of the insured, they do NOT get the proceeds of the life insurance policy.
- The Texas Estates Code §201.058: “Convicted Persons. (a) No conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate except as provided by Subsection (b)… If a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or contract is convicted and sentenced as a principal or accomplice in willfully bringing about the death of the insured, the proceeds of the insurance policy or contract shall be paid in the manner provided by the Insurance Code.”
What does this mean? Well, generally speaking it means that being convicted of a crime does not automatically strip someone of their property or inheritance rights. There is an exception carved out here, however, where the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is convicted for bringing about the death of the insured.
What About Non-Life Insurance Inheritance?
While Texas law is clear on disinheriting slayers from insurance policies, Texas lacks a robust, catch-all “Slayer Statute” for other property. Instead, legal professionals must rely heavily on case law to disqualify a killer from inheriting.
To bridge the gap in statutory law, Texas courts frequently impose a constructive trust on estate proceeds. A constructive trust allows the killer to technically “hold” title to assets, but prevents the killer from enjoying any beneficial interest, effectively passing the assets to the next eligible heirs.
- Criminal Conviction Not Always Required: In Texas, a criminal conviction is not strictly necessary to invoke the rule in probate court. A civil court standard finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the individual intentionally caused the death is required instead, which is a much lower standard.
- Intent Matters: The rule typically only applies to intentional and felonious killings. Accidental deaths or negligent homicide generally do not trigger disinheritance.
- The “Insanity” Loophole: As seen in discussions surrounding the Reiner case, if a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity, the lack of “intent” may prevent the Slayer Rule from being applied, potentially allowing the killer to still inherit.
Takeaways
- Texas law is clear that beneficiaries on a life insurance policy cannot collect if they bring about the death of the insured.
- For other inheritance, however, Court action will be required to establish liability and impose a constructive trust to prevent a devisee from inheriting from the person they killed.
- The Texas Slayer protections are NOT automatic and will require interested persons in the estate to bring a civil suit against the slayer to prevent them from inheriting.
