The forfeiture rule is “the rule of public policy which in certain circumstances precludes a person who has unlawfully killed another from acquiring a benefit in consequence of the killing”. The focus of this paper is not on the offences to which the common law rule applies or the circumstances in which its application may be judicially modified under the Forfeiture Act 1982. Rather, it is on the destination of the property in an estate by virtue of the rule’s application.