Article on the Elective Share

Martin D. Begleiter (Drake University School of Law) recently published an article entitled, Grim Fairy Tales: Studies of Wicked Stepmothers, Poisoned Apples and the Elective Share (July 15, 2014), Albany Law Review, Forthcoming.  Provided below is the abstract from SSRN:

Ever since the statutory elective share replaced dower and curtesy, courts have been trying to expand the property subject to the spouse’s elective share. The courts have used a number of justifications for their attempts to accomplish this. In a previous article, the author offered an interpretation of the proper use of public policy by courts when a statute on the subject has been enacted by the Legislature. This article applies that test to attempts by courts to expand the elective share to will substitutes, and finds such attempts to be an impermissible use of public policy by courts.