In re the Estate of Shapiro

Wingate, S.

The present proceeding raises an interesting and hitherto undetermined question respecting the scope and meaning of subdivision 9 of section 18 of the Decedent Estate Law which provides for the manner in which rights to elect against the will • of a spouse may be waived.

The pertinent facts in the case at bar, which are either undisputed or amply established by the proofs, demonstrate that in 1931, when the critical acts were performed, the testator, Ieschiel Shapiro, was about eighty-three years of age and Sarah Riva approximately seventy. Both had been married but their respective…