TL;DR: Alabama HB9, effective 2026, bars anyone convicted of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation from inheriting from their victim. This closes a decades-old gap in Alabama law. Review your estate plan to add protective provisions against abusive heirs.
Your elderly father added his new companion to his checking account two years ago. “Just to help pay bills.” Since then, the transfers have been steady. Now your father is gone, and under current Alabama law, the companion walks away with whatever is left in that account. No probate challenge needed. No court fight required. The money passes automatically, because her name was on it.
This is the pattern Alabama’s HB9 targets. The Alabama Senate passed the bill in 2026 with the stated goal of keeping elder abusers from profiting off their victims’ deaths. If HB9 becomes law, a person convicted of elder abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation loses the right to inherit from the victim. What the bill changes, and what it still does not fix, is what Alabama families need to understand before a crisis arrives.
What Does Alabama Law Currently Say About Elder Abusers and Inheritance?
Under current Alabama law, the rule blocking bad actors from inheriting is narrow. Alabama Code Section 43-8-253 is the slayer rule. It bars a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent from receiving any property through that decedent’s estate. Homicide. That is the only line the current statute draws.
Financial exploitation is not covered. Neglect is not covered. A caregiver who drains an account over three years and gets named in a revised will the elder signed under duress? Those cases fall under fraud and undue influence claims, which require a lawsuit, which takes months or years, and which the family funds out of pocket while the money sits with the person they are suing.
This pattern appears regularly in Alabama probate courts. Families call after the funeral and find transfers, changed beneficiary forms, a deed signed six weeks before the death. Everything looks wrong. Suspicion does not reverse a joint account withdrawal. Reversing a changed beneficiary requires proving fraud in court, and the standard is high.
The gap is real. Alabama’s slayer rule has not been updated since the state adopted provisions of the Uniform Probate Code in 1985. HB9 is an attempt to bring the inheritance consequences up to where the criminal law already recognizes elder abuse as a serious offense.
What Would HB9 Change for Alabama Families?
HB9 would bar a person convicted of elder abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation from inheriting from the victim through any of these channels:
Under a will: If the victim left a will naming the abuser as a beneficiary, the abuser is treated as if they predeceased the victim. The share passes to whoever else is named, or through the residuary clause.
Without a will: The abuser is also blocked from taking a share under Alabama intestate succession. If the victim died without a will, the abuser does not inherit as a surviving spouse, child, or relative.
Life insurance and death benefits: The bill extends to beneficiary designations on life insurance policies and other contractual death benefits. A convicted abuser named on a policy gets cut off from the payout.
Jointly held property: This is the piece most families do not see coming. In Alabama, jointly held property with right of survivorship passes automatically at death to the surviving owner. No probate. No challenge. HB9 treats the convicted abuser as if they died before the victim, so the property passes to someone else instead.
I’ve seen estate plans fall apart not because someone was killed, but because a person with financial access slowly moved assets beyond the family’s reach. HB9 addresses the legal aftermath of a conviction. Getting to that conviction, and preserving what is left in the estate until then, is the part the bill does not resolve on its own.
How Alabama’s Elder Abuse Laws and HB9 Work Together
Alabama’s elder abuse statutes live in Title 38, Chapter 9 of the Alabama Code, which covers the protection of aged and disabled adults. Reporting, investigation, and criminal penalties run through Adult Protective Services and law enforcement. The criminal conviction that triggers HB9’s inheritance bar comes from that system.
HB9 builds a bridge between a conviction under Title 38 and the inheritance consequences under Title 43. That connection has not existed in Alabama before this bill.
There is a second layer for families dealing with Medicaid. An abuser who received gifts or transfers from a Medicaid recipient during the five-year lookback period creates a separate problem for the estate alongside the HB9 question. Those transfers trigger Medicaid recovery claims and APS reports at the same time. The estate ends up in the middle of both. An Alabama estate planning attorney familiar with both systems is the right person to coordinate the response.
The American Bar Association’s Commission on Law and Aging has tracked how states are updating their inheritance bars to cover elder abuse, and Alabama’s HB9 fits into that national pattern. Several states have adopted similar expansions of the slayer rule concept over the past decade.
The Part of HB9 That Comes Too Late
The biggest thing families miss about HB9 is what it requires before it applies: a criminal conviction.
A conviction for elder abuse in Alabama is not automatic. It requires a report filed with Adult Protective Services or law enforcement, an investigation, charges filed by the district attorney, and either a trial or a guilty plea. That process takes months. It often takes years. Contested cases take longer.
During that entire time, jointly held accounts remain accessible to the abuser. Beneficiary designations remain in effect. Property passes at death regardless of pending charges. The estate assets that HB9 would protect are the ones that have not already been spent, transferred, or gifted before death.
The plan your parent has today, structured to limit who has financial access and to make beneficiary designations match the actual intent, puts protections in place before a crisis instead of waiting for a conviction that arrives two years too late. HB9 matters. A reviewed estate plan matters more.
What to Do If You Have an Elderly Parent in Alabama
HB9 passing the Alabama Senate is a reason to act, not a reason to wait. Here are the steps worth taking now, before a problem develops:
Review who is named as a beneficiary on life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and bank accounts. These designations override a will. A will that says one thing and a beneficiary form that says another means the beneficiary form wins.
Check how property is titled. Jointly held property with right of survivorship passes outside of probate entirely. If someone is on the title who should not be, that is a conversation to have with an attorney now, not after the death.
Make sure a durable power of attorney is in place that names someone your parent actually trusts, and that it has the limits and oversight provisions to prevent misuse. Alabama’s durable power of attorney requirements were updated under Act 2011-683, and older documents do not always include the protections the new form allows.
At Key Law LLC, I offer a free 30-minute consultation for families in this situation. No obligation. It will tell you where the gaps are. Schedule at keylawllc.com/scheduleasession, call (256) 715-5711, or email [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Alabama’s HB9 elder abuse inheritance bill?
HB9 is a bill passed by the Alabama Senate in 2026 that would bar people convicted of elder abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation from inheriting from their victims. It covers wills, intestate succession, life insurance, and jointly held property.
What is the difference between HB9 and Alabama’s slayer rule?
Alabama’s slayer rule, under Ala. Code Section 43-8-253, bars a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent from inheriting. HB9 extends similar consequences to convictions for elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation, which the slayer rule does not cover.
What happens to jointly held property if an elder abuser is convicted in Alabama?
Under current Alabama law, jointly held property with right of survivorship passes automatically to the surviving owner at death. HB9 would treat a convicted elder abuser as if they predeceased the victim, so the property passes to someone else instead of the abuser.
How much does estate planning cost with an Alabama attorney?
A basic will and power of attorney package at Key Law LLC starts with a free 30-minute consultation. Full estate plans vary based on complexity, but most Alabama families pay between $1,000 and $3,500 depending on whether a trust is involved.
Do I need an Alabama attorney to protect a parent’s estate from an abuser?
Yes. An Alabama estate planning attorney helps you structure beneficiary designations, jointly held accounts, and ownership to reduce the risk of exploitation and make the estate plan reflect your parent’s real wishes. Out-of-state attorneys and online forms do not know Alabama Medicaid rules, intestate succession thresholds, or county probate court requirements.