According to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, yes. In In re Will of Shepherd, decided last month, the court held that the doctrine of election of remedies does not bar a person contesting a will (a “caveator”) from sustaining a will contest (“caveat”) action while also seeking payment of their statutory elective share. The court found this to be the case because payment of a spousal elective share and the caveat of a will are not inconsistent remedies.
The court also rejected the propounder’s argument that the doctrine of judicial estoppel should bar the caveat action. The court determined that judicial estoppel was not applicable in this case because the caveator did not make clearly inconsistent factual assertions.
This holding is good news for spouses left out of wills who believe they have a legitimate claim that a purported will should be set aside due to claims that the testator was subject to fraud or duress, or lacked testamentary capacity. In practice, the court’s decision means that many disinherited spouses who contest their deceased spouse’s will may be able to receive payment of at least a portion of their spousal elective share during the pendency of the suit.
Evan Lohr is an estates attorney in Raleigh. He can be reached at evan@lohrnc.com or at (919) 348-9211..
North Carolina Trusts and Estates Law 