Shimp v. Huff,

315 Md. 624, 556 A.2d 252, 85 A.L.R. 4th 395 (1989)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Testator and his first wife executed a joint will which stated that it was irrevocable except by mutual consent of the spouses. After his wife's death, testator did not probate the will and petitioned the court for a declaratory judgment enabling him to execute a new will. The court found that the will was executed pursuant to a valid contract, and that, although testator could revoke it, it would be enforceable against his estate by its beneficiaries. Testator did not execute another will. Less than a year before his death, testator remarried. After his death, the joint will was admitted to probate. Testator's wife (P) filed an election for her statutory share of the estate, which the personal representatives (D) refused to pay. P filed suit for declaratory judgment. The lower court held that, because the beneficiaries of testator's contract with his wife to make a will acquired their rights before the second marriage, their claims to the estate took priority over the wife's.