In the Matter of the Estate of H. Ripley Thompson, Deceased. and Vance Thompson

Summary

Justice Hart dissented from the majority's conclusion that assets in a revocable trust could be included in a decedent's estate when calculating a surviving spouse's elective share. She reasoned that Arkansas statutes and precedent limit dower to property owned by the decedent at death, and that the trust assets were not part of that estate. She warned that the majority's fraud theory effectively creates an augmented estate and threatens common estate-planning devices. Justice Baker joined the dissent.