Death Hits the Jackpot - S11-E1
Corrected entry: Unfortunately for the grieving widow, Columbo's advice to her at the end of the episode - that she will automatically inherit the $24,000,000 won by her late husband and appropriated by Leon Lamarr - is wrong. Columbo has proven (on his standards) that Lamarr murdered Freddy Brower, the rightful winner of the lottery funds, but he has not proven that Brower bought the ticket in the first place. In fact, he doesn't even know he did, he just suspects that he did and that is why he was murdered. He's right, but legally speaking that is irrelevant. The money belongs to Lamarr and will be there waiting for him if and when he gets out of prison, or will go into his estate if he dies while inside. Brower's widow may file a wrongful death suit against Lamarr, but that is a separate legal matter entirely.
Correction: Columbo is perfectly aware of that. He tells Nancy Brower - the widow - that she will get the money instead of Lamarr in order to provoke him into revealing her involvement in her husband's murder. It works. In fact neither would retain any legal right to any of the money as in the United States a criminal cannot profit from his or her crimes. The money would be confiscated by the state or added to Freddy Brower's estate if and when it is definitely established that he bought the ticket.