Estate of Maldonado v. Bailey

OPINION

CARPENETI, Justice.

1. INTRODUCTION

We granted review to determine whether a surviving spouse’s wrongful death proceeds should be included within the decedent’s augmented estate as property of the surviving spouse, thereby offsetting the surviving spouse’s elective share. The superior court included the wrongful death proceeds in the augmented estate on the theory that it was property owned by the surviving spouse at the decedent’s death. Because we conclude that any interest in wrongful death proceeds is not owned by the surviving spouse at the time of the decedent’s death, we reverse…