Ms Helen Doyle:

I agree with that point. The Law Reform Commission set out a lot of the areas that were not addressed. Right now, we are dealing with the Succession Act only, and it deals with this under wills and intestacy, but the situation becomes more complicated when it is outside of that. Where it is left to the courts to decide and they have no guidelines, this is where we should have legislation. We believe the legislation should provide for the presumption that the entire property goes into the victim's estate, although it is always subject to discretion in the context of the particular circumstances, such as somebody being domestically abused at home for years. We do not think everything should be taken from them in those circumstances. However, we should have a default position and work from there and provide discretion. Right now, there is nothing beyond the Succession Act to deal with anything outside wills and intestacy. This includes an insurance policy or a pension policy to which someone would automatically be entitled, although it is being taken from the person they killed, because that is the person who had been nominated by the victim. There is a lot to be dealt with in the legislation.