Document Type

Blog Post

Publication Date

4-2-2026

Abstract

Elective share statutes, the modern successors to the historical doctrines of dower and curtesy, serve as a vital legal safety net designed to prevent a decedent from intentionally disinheriting a surviving spouse. By forcing the decedent’s estate to distribute a specific share to a spouse who has been omitted from a will, these statutes protect against the rise of non-probate transfers and inter vivos gifts that might otherwise leave a survivor destitute.   Since 1990, the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) has grounded this protection in a “partnership theory” of marriage, which posits that spouses contribute to an economic partnership through both financial and non-financial labor. Under this framework, the survivor is entitled to half the “fruits of the partnership.”

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