Succession (Scotland) Act 2016

12 Person forfeiting to be treated as having failed to survive victim

(1) This section applies where, under the forfeiture rule, a person (“the offender”) has forfeited—

(a) rights of succession to the estate of the deceased,

(b) a beneficial interest in trust property which (but for the forfeiture) the offender would have acquired in consequence of the deceased’s death,

(c) title to property which (but for the forfeiture) the offender would have acquired in consequence of the deceased’s death by virtue of a special destination.

(2) In subsection (1)(b), “trust property” means property which, before the deceased’s death, was held in trust for any person.

(3) The offender is to be treated as having died before the deceased—

(a) for the purposes of the rights of succession to the deceased’s estate,

(b) in relation to the beneficial interest mentioned in subsection (1)(b),

(c) in relation to the title to property mentioned in subsection (1)(c),

(as the case may be).

(4) For the avoidance of doubt, references in this section to rights of succession to the estate of the deceased include references to—

(a) a claim to jus relicti, jus relictae or legitim out of that estate,

(b) an entitlement from that estate conferred by section 8 or 9 of the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964.

(5) In this section, “the deceased” means the person as a result of whose death the forfeiture arose.