Illegal Act Exclusions

Crystal M. Patterson (Shareholder, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., Minneapolis, MN) has written a new article entitled Banning Benefits for Bad Behavior: Unraveling the Illegal Act Exclusion, Prob. & Prop., May/June 2009, at 46.

Here is a summary of the article:

Employee benefit plans and insurance policies routinely include provisions that exclude payment of benefits for injuries that are sustained while the beneficiary or insured is engaged in illegal activity. These types of exclusions are commonly referred to as "illegal act" or "criminal act" exclusions. This article discusses the scope of the exclusion in order to provide insight to attorneys and plans sponsors who draft and implement the exclusion.