Johansen

Defendant, the administrator of the estate of a deceased husband who intentionally and feloniously killed his wife and immediately thereafter committed suicide, has appealed from a portion of a judgment entered in an action for declaratory relief brought by the administrator of the wife’s estate for a declaration and adjudication of the respective rights and duties of the plaintiff and defendant in and to the property held by the decedents during their joint Uves. The judgment declares that the defendant holds title to all of the real property which stood of record in joint tenancy between the husband and wife as constructive trustee for the plaintiff.

The parties agree that the devolution of the property is controlled by the principle set forth in section 188 of the Restatement of the Law of Restitution as follows: “Where two persons have an interest in property and the interest of one of them is enlarged by his murder of the other, to the extent to which it is enlarged he holds it upon a constructive trust for the estate of the other.” (See also Civ. Code, §§ 2224 and 3517; and Prob. Code, § 258. ) The controversy involves the extent to which the interest of the…