We hope this analysis of the movie Knives Out helped put a fun spin on some unique laws. When it comes to probate and estate planning, we are always happy to help. As a result, it appears Marta actually would stand to inherit property had she actually been the cause of Harlan’s death. While the statute does allow the intentional and felonious standard to be proved by the lower preponderance of evidence standard, it still appears there was simply nothing intentional by Marta’s actions. This action of immediately attempting to rectify the situation shows Marta did not have an intent to kill. Under North Dakota law, a person engages in conduct intentionally “when he engages in the conduct, it is h purpose to do so.” As can be seen in the movie, Marta believes she has accidentally provided Harlan a lethal amount of morphine (she didn’t), but we also see that Marta rushes to her medical bag to locate the Naloxone (a medication that counteracts opioid overdoses). If Marta truly was responsible for Harlan’s death, her act of providing the wrong dose of medicine was not an “intentional” act under the statute. Second, nothing about Marta’s actions were intentional. Nonetheless, Marta certainly didn’t use a knife to end Harlan’s life and the suicide was clearly Harlan’s choice. Now, Harlan did this in an effort to potentially protect Marta.
Nonetheless, had Marta’s actions been the real reason Harlan died, then would she still have inherited under his newly created will? The weird answer under North Dakota law appears to be “yes.”įirst, and most gruesome, Harlan killed himself. We know Marta did not intentionally kill Harlan (in fact, she did not kill him at all).
In North Dakota for example, a person is not entitled to inherit from someone if they “ intentionally & feloniously” kill the person. Now, many states put a standard in place on when a slayer rule is triggered. Many states have enacted legislation commonly referred to as a “slayer statute.” The rule, in its simplest form, states that if you are responsible for someone’s death, you cannot then inherit property from that person (you should not be rewarded for engaging in wrongful conduct). Second, could Marta have actually inherited Harlan’s property if she were responsible for his death in North Dakota? (Spoiler: She was not responsible, but only one person knew that until about 10 minutes left in the film). Was the will changed because the person knew death was imminent and the nearly departed wanted to button-up his affairs? Was the will drastically changed from a prior version of the will or was the new will different than what someone would expect of the person? Was the nearly departed assisted in making the will by the person who stands to benefit from the new will? Did someone put unfair pressure on the person to create a new will? These are all questions that should arise as a result of a Knives Out situation. What Legal Implications Does Knives Out Present?įirst, whenever a person dies and has changed his will shortly before death it tends to raise some concern. Meanwhile, Marta believes she accidentally killed Harlan and will become quite wealthy because of it. Of course, the entire entitled family is upset and confused. Now, where it gets interesting (albeit not as interesting as the homicide mystery described above) is when Harlan’s attorney comes to the mansion and explains that Marta (not a relative) will receive Harlan’s entire inheritance. However, neither Harlan nor Marta were aware that Harlan’s death was actually set in motion long before the morphine mixup. The start of such a plan is for Harlan to actually slit his own throat (there you go, now you know who done it). In an effort to save Marta from getting in any sort of legal trouble, Harlan concocts a cover-up scheme for Marta to follow. Marta, Harlan’s caregiver, believes she is responsible for Harlan’s death when Marta incorrectly gives Harlan too much morphine. The police rule the matter a suicide, but an anonymous party pays a private eye James Bond Benoit Blanc to investigate this matter.
The next morning, however, Harlan is discovered by his housekeeper with his throat slit. Harlan’s immediate family gathered at his mansion for Harlan’s 85th birthday. Harlan has amassed quite a fortune authoring and publishing his own mystery novels. Centered in this contentious family affair is wealthy mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey. Knives Out is a 2019, but still classic, “who done it” movie mystery. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, DO NOT READ ON.
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