Rosser H. Payne v. B. Austin Newton, Jr., Administrator, Estate of Beulah E. Payne

McGOWAN, Circuit Judge.

These appeals may, in our view, be disposed of by reference to a single issue. That is whether, under the circumstances here involved, the right of a surviving incompetent widow to renounce her husband’s will continues beyond her own death. For the reasons set forth hereinafter, we hold that it does not.

I

James B. Payne, a resident of the District of Columbia, died on February 14, 1962. He was survived by his widow, Beulah E. Payne, and by the appellants, a brother and three sisters of the decedent. The marriage, of nearly 50 years’ duration, was saddened by the fact…