Downes v. Downes

Dissenting Opinion by

BATTAGLIA, J.

I respectfully dissent.

In this case we have been asked to decide if under Sections 3-203 and 3-206 of the Estates and Trusts Article and Maryland Rule 6-411(c), the Orphans’ Court, or the Circuit Court on de novo appeal, has the discretion to accept a surviving spouse’s fifth petition for extension of time to make a statutory election where the petition was filed after the previous election period had expired. According to the majority, both *579the language of Section 3-206 and Rule 6-411(c) are mandatory restrictions on the Orphans’ Court’s authority to grant…