Court Opinion

ID: 9738008
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:40:22.137265+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:03.186979
License: Public Domain

Me Co wn, J.,
dissenting.
The testator’s will here left to his wife, if she survived him, the exact amount and the specific share of his estate which she would receive if he had no will, but he left it in trust for her proper support and maintenance. The corporate trustee had the power to use all the income and all the principal for those purposes. The wife was given a full power of appointment of all remaining property on her death. At the time he executed the will his wife was incompetent and had been incompetent for some 4 years.
The majority opinion here determines that the best interests of the surviving spouse are better served by renouncing the will because “a fee title is of much greater value than a beneficial interest in the trust.” That might well be so if the surviving spouse were competent, but she is not.
While technically an incompetent might be said to have a fee title, in literal practical fact an incompetent during his or her lifetime has no greater beneficial interest in property managed on his or her behalf by a guardian than in property managed by a trustee under the powers granted by the will here.
If there was any reasonable prospect that an incompetent might recover, the básis for the majority opinion might be at least arguably supportable. In this case, however, the evidence is simply undisputed that the surviving spouse is now and always will be incompetent. The entire foundation for the majority opinion here must, and does, therefore, rest on the wholly unsupported conclusion that $343,000 held and used for the maintenance and support of the incompetent surviving spouse during her lifetime has a greater value in the hands of a guardian than it does in the hands of a trustee under the will.
The majority opinion accepts the universal rule that *209the interests of possible heirs of an incompetent should play no part in the decision but states that the incompetent’s estate must not be ignored. Under our Nebraska statute, the right of a surviving spouse to renounce the will and take a statutory share is personal to the surviving spouse and under no circumstances does it extend to an executor or administrator of the survivor’s estate, or to heirs. If a surviving spouse dies before the expiration of the time for exercising the right, the right lapses altogether. The right of election is clearly for the benefit of the surviving spouse alone. Section 30-2315, R. S. Supp., 1974, which does not go into effect until January 1, 1977, makes it very clear that in the case of a protected person, such as the incompetent spouse here, the court shall exercise the election only “after finding that exercise is in the best interests of the protected person during his probable life expectancy.” (Emphasis ours.)
The majority opinion here is not only too restrictive as applied in this case, but the impact of the holding upon other cases not presently before us has been largely ignored. It should be noted first that the trust provisions of the will here were obviously drawn to permit the share of the surviving spouse to qualify for the marital deduction under the federal estate tax laws. It must be noted too that thousands of Nebraska citizens have drawn wills which contain similar trust provisions which fully qualify for marital deduction treatment under federal laws. Because of the impact of estate and inheritance taxes, many husbands and wives have drawn and prepared separate wills to fit their joint estate tax plans. The majority opinion, if followed in the future, will now mean that the county court will be required to renounce a will on behalf of an incompetent surviving spouse whenever the will leaves the share of the surviving spouse in trust under marital deduction provisions similar to those here, even though the amount received by the incompetent’s guardian will be identically the same. *210The holding necessarily poses a critical problem for estate tax planners where incompetence of a surviving spouse is involved.
The rule adopted by the majority of courts offers a much broader and sounder basis for making the appropriate election on behalf of an incompetent surviving spouse. It likewise permits an equitable approach on an individual case basis. The majority rule and the distinctions between it and the minority rule are well set out in the leading case of Kinnett v. Hood, 25 Ill. 2d 600, 185 N. E. 2d 888, 3 A. L. R. 3d 1. We quote from that case: “Courts are in agreement that the primary consideration is the best interest of the incompetent. There is a wide divergence of opinion, however, as to what constitutes the best interest of an incompetent. In reviewing the cases from foreign jurisdictions the real difference seems to be that one school of thought (apparently the minority,) would consider the welfare of the incompetent to mean the greatest amount of property obtainable absolutely or in fee to the exclusion of other considerations. The majority of jurisdictions on the other hand, would consider all the surrounding circumstances, where ample provision is made in the will for the welfare and comfort of the incompetent spouse, including the testamentary design and purpose of the testator and that election which the spouse might have made if he or she were competent. * * * There are strong arguments for each view, * * *.
“We believe that the minority view is too restrictive. By placing the election purely upon monetary consideration, too much emphasis is placed upon the best interest of incompetents’ estates (and their heirs after death), with a possible detriment to the personal welfare, comfort and best interest of the incompetent. * * * The majority view that all of the surrounding facts and circumstances should be taken into consideration by a court in order to make the election to take under a will or against it seems to be the more equitable.”
*211Where, as here, the trust provisions in a will for the welfare and comfort of an incompetent surviving spouse during her lifetime are at least equal to, or better than, the statutory provisions which regulate the providing of such welfare and comfort by a guardian, and the amount available is ample and exactly the same in either case, the testator’s property should ordinarily be permitted to pass under the will.
Section 30-108(2), R. R. S. 1943, specifically places the responsibility for making the election for an incompetent spouse upon the county court. In this case that court made specific findings of fact, none of which are challenged. The county court then exercised the election to take under the will. The county court properly and correctly found the facts and exercised its judicial discretion under section 30-108(2), R R. S. 1943, and its judgment should be affirmed.
Newton and Clinton, JJ., join in this dissent.