Stevens v. Heritage Bank

Josephine Linker Hart, Judge.

Lisa Stevens, the surviving spouse of Walter E. Stevens, III (decedent), appeals from the declaratory-judgment order of the St. Francis County Circuit Court that directed the co-administrators to reduce her dower interest for certain claims against the estate. She argues that the court’s decision was erroneous because of the general rule that the widow takes her dower free of her husband’s debts and that the estate was not entitled to a setoff in that she was not indebted to the decedent’s estate. We agree and reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent…