North Carolina National Bank v. Barbee

In the vast majority of jurisdictions the rule is that merely qualifying as executor or administrator c.t.a. is not sufficient standing alone, to constitute an election to take under the will but is a factor tending to establish such an election which must be considered in conjunction with all the other circumstances. 57 Am. Jur., Wills, §1539; Anno. — Wills — Election by Beneficiary, 166 A.L.R. 316, 320.

The early cases in North Carolina held that if a wife qualified as executrix rar 'administratrix, c.t.a. of her husband’s will, the iact of qualifying and undertaking upon oath to carry out…