New case clarifies matters on forfeiture connected with assisted suicide

Philip Morris v James Morris, Kate Shmuel and Gregory White [2024] EWHC 2554 (Ch)

Since assisting a person to commit suicide is a criminal offence under the Suicide Act 1961, a person who assists another to commit suicide risks forfeits any rights of inheritance or acquiring other benefits connected with that death. In a recent case involving a husband who escorted his wife to Switzerland, and who later sought clarification from the Chancery Division of the High Court as to whether he would be denied access to her estate under the forfeiture rule described above, the court held that merely accompanying someone to a place where they plan to end their life does not amount to assisting that person's suicide in UK law. The applicant was granted relief from forfeiture.