LOVE/MORIARTY/VAINIERI HUTTLE BILL ELIMINATING ALIMONY, INHERITANCE RIGHTS FOR MURDERERS & ABUSERS CLEARS LEGISLATURE

LOVE/MORIARTY/VAINIERI HUTTLE BILL ELIMINATING ALIMONY, INHERITANCE RIGHTS FOR MURDERERS & ABUSERS CLEARS LEGISLATURE

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Sandra Love, Paul D. Moriarty and Valerie Vainieri Huttle sponsored to block alimony payments to convicted killers and eliminate inheritance rights for parents who abandon or abuse a child has received final legislative approval.

Under the bill (A-2681), alimony would be denied to any person convicted of a crime that resulted in death or serious bodily injury to a family member of a divorcing party, and the crime was committed after the marriage or civil union.

In addition, a person convicted of an attempt or conspiracy to commit murder would not receive alimony from the person who was the intended victim or be awarded equitable distribution.

The legislation was prompted by the case of Chris Calbi, a 14-year-old-boy from Old Tappan, Bergen County, who died after sustaining a lethal kick to the neck from his mother during a domestic argument. Following his son’s death, Calbi’s father found there was no legal precedent to preclude his having to make alimony payments to his estranged wife upon her parole.

“This legislation really serves a simple and singular purpose: to keep money out of the hands of those who would go so far as to beat and kill their own family and then expect to receive an alimony payment from a former spouse,” said Love (D-Gloucester). “Convicted killers should not be able to profit from their misdeeds.”

The bill also seeks to prevent abusive parents from receiving an inheritance settlement from the estates of a deceased child. It was prompted by the horrific case of Faheem Williams, the 7-year-old Newark youngster whose mummified corpse was found in an apartment basement by police in 2003 after his mother had abandoned him and other siblings to live with her cousin.

Although the cousin pled guilty to manslaughter in Faheem’s death, Faheem’s mother had to be separately barred from seeking the $1 million that the state paid to her son’s estate. Under current law, the intestate share of a decedent child’s estate is equally distributed between the surviving parents, regardless of whether that child’s parents abused the child before his death.

“Any parent found to have abused their child should immediately forfeit their right to their child’s estate,” said Moriarty (D-Gloucester). “No parent who puts their innocent child’s life in danger should get one penny.”

“We need to take proactive steps to ensure that when a child is the victim of a tragic crime or the subject of abuse their estates are not looted by family members whose very neglect led to their deaths,” said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen).

Under the bill, a parent would lose all right to intestate succession and to administer the estate if:

• They refused to acknowledge or abandoned the child by willfully forsaking or failing to care for it in such a way that it exposed the child to physical or moral risk.

• They were convicted of committing sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, endangering welfare of children, attempt or conspiracy to murder the child or committed abuse or neglect that contributed to the child’s death.

The bill passed the Assembly 79-0 and the Senate 38-0. It now goes to the Governor. .

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