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elective share

   Also found in: Legal, Wikipedia 0.02 sec.
elective share

The ability of a surviving spouse to elect to take a specified percentage of the decedent's estate rather than the amount left by the will.Most states make some sort of provision so that a surviving spouse cannot be completely disinherited.The vehicle may be the common law rights of curtesy (the widower's share) or dower (the widow's share). Because of archaic concepts about the relative needs of surviving spouses, dower and curtesy did not provide the same benefits to husbands as to wives. As a result, many states passed statutes modifying the rules or even completely abolishing them in favor of a statutory scheme. The statutory system usually allows a surviving spouse to elect between taking what was provided in the will or taking a certain preset percentage of the decedent's estate.



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A number of states grant a surviving spouse the right to take an elective share of the decendent spouse's estate.
Significant recent developments in estate planning: this article ... by Whitlock, Brian T. / The Tax Adviser
Under the Uniform Probate Code (which abolishes dower), the elective share permits a surviving spouse to take property either under the will of the deceased spouse, or to take a percentage of the deceased spouse's separate property (which increases based on the number of years that the couple was married).
Overcoming the Boggs dilemma in community property states by Cochran, Carol Mayo / The Tax Adviser
S did not assert her right to take an elective share against the will.
Technical advice shows how to lose a marital deduction by Drudy, Phillip P. / The Tax Adviser
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