In re Estate of Donnelly

Citations

• 125 Cal. 417
• 58 P. 61
• 1899 Cal. LEXIS 875

Syllabus

<p>Estates of Deceased Persons—Bight of Inheritance—Civil Death—Imprisonment for Life.—The right of inheritance is a civil right, existing only by virtue of the law, and the legislature may make the deprivation of this right a portion of the penalty to be imposed for the commission of a crime. Section 674 of the Penal Code, enacting that “a person sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison for life is thereafter deemed civilly dead,” has the effect to extingush his civil rights, generally, including the right of inheritance; and such a person cannot be a distributee of the estate of an intestate father who died subsequent to his sentence of imprisonment for life.</p> <p>Id.—Construction of Code—Exceptions Named Exclusive.—The ■ exceptions named in sections 675 and 676 of the Penal Code are exclusive, and the civil death of the felon destroys every civil right not expressly saved in those sections.</p>