## Facts

- Lester Shimp and his first wife, Clara, acquired property during marriage, including real property held as tenants by the entireties.
- In 1974, Lester and Clara executed a joint will reflecting a common plan: the survivor would benefit first, and upon the survivor’s death the remaining property would pass to named beneficiaries (including Mary Virginia Huff and Wallace R. Huff).
- The joint will also stated that, after one spouse’s death, the survivor could not alter or revoke the plan.
- Clara died in 1975. Litigation later determined that the joint will was revocable as a will but reflected an enforceable contract after the survivor’s death.
- Lester remarried Lisa Mae Shimp in 1985 and remained married to her until his death; he did not execute a new will or revoke the joint will.
- After Lester’s death, the joint will was admitted to probate.
- Lisa Mae, as surviving spouse, sought (1) a statutory elective share under Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 3-203 and (2) a family allowance under § 3-201.
- The personal representatives and contract beneficiaries refused payment, asserting the joint-will contract required distribution to the earlier beneficiaries.

## Issues

1. Whether a decedent’s contractual obligations under a joint will with a prior spouse can defeat a later surviving spouse’s statutory elective share under Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 3-203.
2. Whether the same contractual obligations can defeat the later surviving spouse’s statutory family allowance under Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 3-201.
3. If both interests are recognized, what priority rule governs distribution of the estate.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Maryland reversed the circuit court.
- The surviving second spouse was entitled to receive the elective share and family allowance.
- Beneficiaries claiming under the joint-will contract took only from the estate remaining after satisfaction of the surviving spouse’s statutory rights.
- The joint-will contract remained enforceable, but only against the post-statutory-share residue.

## Legal Principles

- A joint will may be revocable as a will while also evidencing a contract between the spouses that may be enforced after the survivor’s death.
- Statutory protections for a surviving spouse—elective share (§ 3-203) and family allowance (§ 3-201)—reflect a legislative policy to secure a minimum level of spousal support from the estate.
- A joint-will contract cannot bind or waive the statutory rights of a later spouse who was not a party to the contract and did not execute a waiver.
- Contract beneficiaries’ rights under a joint-will agreement are subordinate to the surviving spouse’s statutory entitlements and attach only to what remains after those entitlements are paid.

## Conclusion

The court held that Maryland’s elective share and family allowance provisions must be satisfied before any enforcement of a prior joint-will contract, leaving contract beneficiaries to recover, if at all, only from the remaining estate.


Shimp v. Huff, 315 Md. 624, 556 A.2d 252 (Md. 1989)