Angelika Graswald, 37, (pictured leaving court on Monday) was awarded an undisclosed portion of the $500,000 her fiance left her in his life insurance payout after she caused his death in 2015

A woman who caused her fiance to drown by pulling the drain plug on his kayak in 2015 won a portion of his $500,000 life insurance payout on Monday despite being convicted fir her role in his death.

Angelika Graswald was freed from prison in December, two years after watching her 46-year-old fiancé Vincent Viafore being swept away by choppy waters on New York's Hudson River.

She pulled a drain plug out from his kayak and pushed a paddle away from him as he got into choppy waters.

Last year, the 37-year-old pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and she was sentenced to up to four years in prison.

Graswald, a Latvian immigrant, was released six weeks after her conviction based on the two-and-a-half years she spent behind bars waiting for her trial.

She has spent the time since then trying to land the 45 per cent of his $1million life insurance policy payout and on Monday, she was awarded an undisclosed settlement from his mother and sister.

'There is a financial settlement, the amount of which is confidential,' said Anthony Piscionere, her attorney.

The man's family, who had tried to stop her from winning anything, said they were happy the matter was now behind them.

Angelika pulled the drain plug out of her fiance Vincent Viafore's kayak during a trip on the Hudson River in New York in 2015. She wanted him dead because she had grown tired of his incessant sex demands, it was claimed

Graswald pulled out the drain plug on her fiance's kayak (pictured) which caused it to fill up with water. She also pushed away a paddle which he could have used to save himself

'It’s time to let this family move on,' Allan Rappleyea, the attorney for the Viafore family, told CBS New York.

Vincent's distraught mother Mary Ann fought Graswald's attempts to get the money but said on Monday she was happy the matter was behind her

The settlement gives Viatore's mother and sister at least $500,000 - the money the have been entitled to since he died - plus whatever remained of the other half after Griswald's payout was factored in.

In January, they were stubborn in their view that she should not seea penny.

'It’s been a nightmare for the last almost three years. She doesn’t deserve the money. She caused his death!' Vincent's mother Mary Ann told The New York Post.

'Of course she was reckless. She removed the cap, and the kayak filled up and he went in the river. And then she did something to the paddle,'

When Vincent died, his fiancée was named as the beneficiary of half of his life insurance policy which entitled her to a payout of $491,000.

His mother and sister were listed as the beneficiaries of the other half.

They are appealing to a judge to side with them and issue an order which stops her from claiming the money.

Prosecutors used Graswald's social media posts as proof that she was happy her partner had died. In the days after his death, she posted happy videos and selfies

After her release in December, Portale, Griswald's attorney, whisked her out of jail and to an upscale restaurant where she ate steak and drank wine.

She was still wearing her prison trousers when she was released.

During the course of her prosecution, police uncovered diary entries she had made before Vincent's death where she complained about his sex requests.

They also pointed to selfies she posted on social media, days after he was killed, which they said proved she was happy he had died.

She maintains that his death was an accident and that she has been treated unfairly.

'I loved Vince very much and miss him terribly.'

'I don't believe I was treated fairly.

'This entire process was incredibly one-sided and unjust,' she said in a statement which was read by her lawyer after she was released.

Had she been convicted of murder, Graswald would have been prevented from claiming the money under the slayer law which stops murderers profiting from their crimes by way of inheritance.