Hamilton v. Hamilton

Barrett Hamilton had two adult children from his first marriage, Melinda and Maron Hamilton (plaintiffs). Barrett’s second wife was Virginia Hamilton (defendant). After approximately 11 years of marriage, Barrett filed for divorce from Virginia. However, because Barrett unexpectedly died while the divorce was pending, Virginia was legally classified as Barrett’s surviving spouse. Barrett’s will gave Virginia a dower interest, as defined under Arkansas common law, in Barrett’s real and personal property. The remainder of Barrett’s substantial estate was left to Melinda and Maron. A common-law dower interest provides a surviving spouse with a life interest in a defined portion of the deceased spouse’s real and personal property interests. After Barrett’s death, Virginia stated her intent to claim an elective share of Barrett’s estate. To prevent spousal disinheritance or underinheritance, an elective-share statute allows a surviving spouse to claim a defined portion, typically one-third, of the deceased spouse’s entire estate in exchange for whatever the surviving spouse would have inherited under the deceased spouse’s will. Melinda and Maron sued to have Arkansas’s elective-share statute declared unconstitutional, arguing that the statute (1) violated the Equal Protection Clause because it gave surviving spouses a greater right to claim against their spouses’ assets than divorced spouses even though both surviving and divorced spouses obtained their property rights following terminations of their marriages by death or divorce, respectively, and (2) violated the Due Process Clause because allowing Virginia to claim an elective share instead of the less valuable dower interest diminished Melinda and Maron’s inheritance rights and frustrated Barrett’s testamentary intent. The probate court held that the elective-share statute was constitutional and that Virginia was entitled to claim her elective share. Melinda and Maron appealed.