## Facts

- Rosaline V. Siek executed a will leaving one-fourth of her estate to her mother, one-fourth to her brother, and the residue to five named nieces and nephews; her future husband was not named.
- Rosaline married John J. Siek on September 28, 1967; the marriage produced no children.
- Rosaline died on December 13, 1967, and her will was admitted to probate on December 18, 1967.
- John was indicted for first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for conduct connected to Rosaline’s death, was sentenced, and was incarcerated.
- Although not a devisee under the will, John elected to take the statutory share available to a surviving spouse under Ohio’s descent-and-distribution statutes, as limited by the spousal-election statute.
- The executor sought a declaratory judgment that John’s criminal responsibility for Rosaline’s death barred him from receiving any share of her estate.

## Issues

1. Whether a surviving spouse convicted of first-degree manslaughter in the decedent spouse’s death is disqualified from taking a statutory surviving-spouse share under Ohio law absent an express statutory bar.

## Decision

- The court held that the manslaughter conviction did not affect the surviving spouse’s statutory inheritance rights.
- The court declared John legally entitled to take the statutory share available to an electing surviving spouse, including one-half of the net estate.
- The court rejected imposing a nonstatutory “slayer” disqualification through declaratory judgment where the probate statutes contained no such exception.

## Legal Principles

- A surviving spouse’s entitlement to a statutory share under Ohio’s descent-and-distribution and election statutes is governed by the statutory text; courts do not add forfeiture conditions not stated by the legislature.
- In the absence of an express statutory disqualification for a spouse who causes the decedent’s death, a conviction for first-degree manslaughter does not, by itself, bar the spouse from inheriting the statutory share.
- When succession rights arise by statute rather than by a testamentary gift, equitable maxims against profiting from wrongdoing do not override clear statutory entitlements without legislative authorization.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that, because Ohio law did not expressly disqualify a spouse convicted of first-degree manslaughter from inheriting, the surviving spouse’s election to take the statutory share remained effective, entitling him to one-half of the net estate.


Wadsworth v. Siek, 23 Ohio Misc. 112, 254 N.E.2d 738 (Ohio Ct. Com. Pl. 1970)