In re Estate of Thompson

H. Ripley Thompson (Ripley) suffered from poor health and spent his last year of life in a nursing home. While there, he executed a new will that bequeathed his wife, Anne Thompson (plaintiff) only $100,000. He simultaneously created an inter vivos revocable trust into which he placed most of his assets. While the trust could be revoked during Ripley’s lifetime, Arkansas law automatically rendered it irrevocable upon his death, meaning that the trust property would not be included in Ripley’s estate. The new will and trust suggested a purposeful intent to prevent Anne from accessing Ripley’s assets after his death, likely because of recent discord between the spouses. When Ripley died, the trust property had a value of over $5.8 million, while Ripley’s remaining assets had a value of only $230,471. Instead of accepting the $100,000 bequeathed to her in Ripley’s will, Anne sought to take an elective share of Ripley’s estate. Under Arkansas law, the elective share allowed Anne to receive the share of Ripley’s real and personal property that she would have taken if he died intestate. Anne filed suit against trustee Vance Thompson (defendant), arguing that the trust property should be included in Ripley’s estate to calculate the elective share because the trust was specifically created to undermine Anne’s elective-share right. The circuit court held in Anne’s favor. Vance appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court.