Pickett v. Spain

In this appeal, we consider whether the doctrine of election prevents a beneficiary named in a will from asserting a right of contribution arising from her payment of debts she and the testator owed at the time of the testator’s death.

The litigants stipulated the following facts. H. Calvin Spain died testate on December 4, 1992. The beneficiaries of'his will and a trust, both executed on November 17, 1992, were his widow, Susan C. Spain, and three children from a previous marriage.

The will directed the executor, Owen B. Pickett, to pay the testator’s “just debts, excluding any mortgage…