In re the Estate of Hughes

HOGAN, Judge.

Cecil A. Hughes shot and killed his wife, Suzanne DuPerier Hughes, and then committed suicide. Probate estates were opened for both Cecil and Suzanne and administration on both estates was commenced in the Probate Division of the Circuit Court of Greene County. By stipulation and motion, the probate division was called on to decide whether: a) one decedent survived the other, or b) the decedents died simultaneously within the meaning and intent of the Simultaneous Death Law, now codified as Chapter 471, RSMo 1986.1 The trial court found, inter alia, that Suzanne survived Cecil,…