How could this have been allowed (and I'm assuming/hoping it could NOT happen today):
"A coroner's report showed that Snider died after Stratten did, and so members of his family successfully petitioned a court to grant them all the assets of both Stratten and Snider, by virtue of the fact that Snider had "inherited" Stratten's estate upon her death."
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Wait a minute... who am I here?
If true, that's one of the most fckd up things I've ever heard.
shareHow is that possible when there is that law that you cannot benefit from your crime? Like serial killers cannot sell their stories and make money.
-Jane
His family didn't commit the crime.
Sounds like that nut didn't fall far from the tree. Nothing like a little blood money to liven things up.
Creeps.
A Marine's Daughter! USA!!
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But if Snider killed her, wouldn't he have lost any right to the money. Therefore, by the time he killed himself he had already "lost" the inheritance, no? Then how could he leave it to his relatives?
shareOn a personal note, this happened to a friend of mine back in 1982 in a similar fashion. Her father died first, then her step mom died. Her step mom technically inherited all her fathers assets, including the house since they both died without a will. So her step mom's family, who never set foot in to see her when she was ill, came in and took all her assets including the house. The step child had no rights.
See, things like this do happen. It just all depends what State you die in and how greedy relatives and attorneys are. I can tell ya, they are mighty greedy when there is money involved.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing"share
Weren't they still married though?
- A point in every direction is the same as no point at all.
Sadly a "good" lawyer could have pulled this off.
shareThe law is different in every state, but if you die without making a will or creating non-probate transfers (a beneficiary deed to your home, Transfer on Death for bank accounts and other financial assets) then your state's laws of "intestate succession" come into play and the state looks to the living relatives to distribute the assets of the estate.
The "intestate succession" laws come to the U.S. through the British Common Law (Canada is a member of the United Kingdom, its Provinces have codified the common law as well) where the doctrine originated to prevent the Crown from inheriting all wealth from those who did not make wills.
The Stratten/Snider probate came about because of their deaths without wills - it wasn't because a "good lawyer" did anything to secure Stratten's assets for Snider - it was because neither Stratten nor Snider ever consulted a lawyer to draft a will.
Stratten's entire assets at the time of her death were around $15,000.00 - $7,500.00 of which she had offered to Snider as part of her Dissolution (divorce) proceeding - per California's community property laws. Yes, she had a good chance of making much more over her lifetime, but the issue of "support" (alimony) was never reached in the Dissolution proceeding because of the deaths.
Snider killed the only hope that he ever had to live off of Stratten. He was a sick and twisted man who performed monsterous deeds - not "the lawyers" or the law.
Here is a link to the original report that Bob Fosse read in The Village Voice http://www.teresacarpenter.com/voice_murder.pdf
You can view both their death certificates on Find A Death; Dorothy's has her time-of-death status as "married" and names Paul as "surviving spouse". Paul's status was "widowed", with "none" filled in for "surviving spouse".
Yeah, they're dead; they're--all messed up!