Mothershed v. Schrimsher

LEWIS, Judge.

At issue in this case is the effect of the North Carolina Slayer Statute’s clause which deems the slayer to have died “immediately prior” to the victim’s death. The question is whether the Statute establishes the order of death between the slayer and the victim for purposes of distributing both the victim and the slayer’s estate or whether the Statute merely ignores the slayer’s actual date of death for purposes of distributing the victim’s estate.

Nettie and Rupert Torrence were mother and. son. Prior to their deaths, each was the primary heir of the other. Mrs. Torrence was a…