## Facts

- Charles Prager died testate on September 14, 1911, leaving a large estate consisting of separate property and community property.
- The will gave the residue of the estate to the widow, Mary J. Prager, and separately devised real property located outside the City of Los Angeles to the decedent’s brother and several nephews and nieces, including Fannie (Prager) Cohn.
- After death, the widow asserted her statutory right to one-half of the community property while also claiming the benefits provided to her under the will.
- Most devisees accepted the widow’s position; Fannie objected and disputed the widow’s ability to take both.
- The widow and beneficiaries entered a compromise under which Fannie agreed to waive her objection in exchange for consideration related to an option/transfer involving property.
- A decree of partial distribution awarded the widow one-half of the outside-Los-Angeles real property as her community share and distributed the remaining half of that property to the devisees named for it in the will.
- Fannie later petitioned the probate court to declare that the widow’s assertion of her community share required an election that barred the widow from also taking under the will.

## Issues

1. Whether a surviving spouse must elect between taking a statutory one-half share of community property and taking testamentary benefits when the will does not expressly provide that the testamentary gifts are in lieu of community rights.
2. Whether a devisee who waived objections to the spouse’s claims in a compromise for consideration is estopped from later asserting that the spouse cannot take both the community share and the testamentary gifts.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of California affirmed the probate court’s dismissal of Fannie’s petition.
- The court held the widow was not required to elect because the will did not clearly state, and did not necessarily imply, that the widow’s testamentary gifts were conditioned on surrender of her community property rights.
- The court held that, independently, the compromise agreement and Fannie’s acceptance of its benefits estopped her from renewing the objection.
- The decree allowing the widow to receive both her community-property half and the will’s gifts remained in effect.

## Legal Principles

- A surviving spouse is entitled by statute to one-half of community property.
- The doctrine of election requires a choice only when a will clearly attempts to dispose of the spouse’s property interest and shows an intention that the spouse must relinquish that inconsistent right to take under the will.
- Absent express “in lieu of” language or a testamentary plan that would be defeated if the spouse took both, courts do not infer an intent to compel an election.
- A beneficiary who, for consideration, compromises a probate dispute by waiving objections may be equitably estopped from later taking a position inconsistent with that settlement.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the widow’s right to claim her statutory one-half of the community property while also receiving the will’s benefits because the will did not clearly require an election, and because the objecting devisee’s prior compromise and acceptance of consideration barred renewed opposition.


Estate of Prager, 166 Cal. 450, 137 P. 37 (Cal. 1913)