Assisted dying and the law; why you can be disinherited for helping a loved one to die
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By Sarah Young, Partner and Samantha Hirst, Associate Solicitor of Ridley & Hall Legal Ltd
A court case earlier this year has highlighted an astonishingly cruel quirk of the law, where a wife who helped her terminally ill husband commit suicide in Switzerland, faced criminal prosecution as well as being disinherited on her return to the UK.
Assisted dying is illegal in the UK. It is legally available under various conditions in five European countries including Belgium and Switzerland, as well as in Canada and six US states.
Alexander Ninian who was 86 and terminally ill, went to Dignitas in Switzerland in 2017 to die, accompanied by his wife Sarah Ninian. Mr Ninian had a terminal condition, called progressive supra nuclear palsy. He obtained legal and medical advice beforehand and prepared a statement making it clear that his wife had been opposed to his decision and that he had made the decision of his own free will. Once Mr Ninian had made the necessary arrangements, his wife wen...
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