In a ruling that is equal parts incredible and ominous, a Wisconsin appeals court has ruled the wife and daughter of a man who committed suicide with their help can inherit his estate.

State law prevents anyone who "intentionally kills" another from inheriting from the person, explained Wisconsin RTL Executive Director Barbara Lyons. However the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV, concluded in Donna Lemmer v. Linda Schunk that assisting a suicide is not an intentional killing under the probate statutes. Wisconsin does have a law which specifically prohibits assisted suicide.

Lyons said yesterday's decision "opens the door for individuals to assist a family member with suicide and then be able to collect an inheritance from the decedent's estate." She added, "By giving a financial motive to those who provide the means for someone to kill themselves, the decision has ominous implications for Wisconsin citizens."

The three-judge panel unanimously ruled in favor of Linda and Megan Schunk, the wife and daughter of Edward Schunk, who died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound in January 2006. According to Lyons, another daughter of Edward's, Donna Lemmer, had filed proceedings, claiming that Linda and Megan Schunk should not be entitled to their inheritance because they assisted in Mr. Schunk's suicide.

The two did not contest that they drove Mr. Schunk home from the hospital the day he committed suicide but denied assisting, the Chicago Tribune reported. "The other children alleged the two knew he wanted to commit suicide, drove him to a cabin on the property, helped him inside, gave him a loaded shotgun and left."

The court assumed those facts were true but still ruled in favor of Linda and Megan Schunk, according to the Tribune. "Providing Edward with a loaded shotgun did not deprive him of his life: he deprived himself of life by shooting himself with the shotgun," Judge Margaret Vergeront wrote on behalf of the panel. "A person who assists another in voluntarily and intentionally taking his or her own life is plainly not depriving the other of life."

The decision upheld a decision by a Clark County Circuit Court Judge Jon Counsell.
Wisconsin Right to Life "plans to seek either court or legislative action to close this loophole,"

Lyons said. "For the protection of our citizens, the state should not provide a financial motive to those who participate in a suicide."

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