Revision: Jan. 28, 2026, 12:06 p.m.
Sen. Carson, Dist 14
January 23, 2026
2026-0268s
09/08
Amendment to HB 510-FN
Amend the title of the bill by replacing it with the following:
AN ACT relative to establishing certain due process rights for students, student organizations, and faculty members facing disciplinary actions by state institutions of higher learning, and relative to the effect of murder on a decedent's estate.
Amend the bill by replacing all after section 1 with the following:
2 New Paragraph; Effect of Murder on Intestate Succession, Wills, Joint Assets, Life Insurance, and Beneficiary Designations; Definition Added. Amend RSA 562-A:1 by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:
I-a. “Final criminal conviction” means a judgment of conviction that has become final upon conclusion of direct appellate review by the New Hampshire supreme court or expiration of the time to seek such review.
3 Effect of Murder on Intestate Succession, Wills, Joint Assets, Life Insurance, and Beneficiary Designations; Murder; How Determined. Amend RSA 562-A:5, I and II to read as follows:
I. [After all right to appeal has been exhausted] Upon entry of a final criminal conviction, a judgment of conviction establishing criminal responsibility for commission of the murder of the decedent conclusively establishes the convicted individual as the decedent's killer for purposes of this chapter.
II. In the absence of a final criminal conviction, an individual's status as the person responsible for commission of the murder of the decedent as defined in this chapter is conclusively established by a final civil judgment to that effect entered against the individual by a court of competent jurisdiction.
I. Section 1 of this act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.
2026-0268s
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Establishes for students, student organizations, and faculty members of publicly funded New Hampshire colleges and universities the right to certain due process protections when disciplinary proceedings are brought against them by such institutions, and addresses the provisions' applicability to collective bargaining agreements.
II. Makes the final criminal conviction for murder, which is defined, the threshold for conclusive establishment of criminal responsibility for the commission of a murder, with respect to the murder's effect on the decedent's estate.