Matson v. Wilhelmson

When August L. Hermanson died intestate June, 1931, in Alaska, of which territory he was a resident since the nineties, his estate, which was his separate property, consisted of a bank account in the amount of thirty-five hundred dollars, a boat, and other personalty. The distribution of that property — the estate was never probated — was governed by the laws of Alaska, which jurisdiction has no community property law.

The decedent’s surviving relatives were Laura Hermanson, his widow, and Emily Wilhelmson, a daughter by a former marriage. Prior to her death intestate October 31, 1936, in…