Elizabeth Rastetter, Infants, by Louise Mais-Wagener, Their Guardian Ad Litem, Respondents v. John C…

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that a jointly executed will operates as an enforceable contract between the spouses, binding the surviving spouse to the agreed disposition of their property, and that equity may impose a trust on property purchased with estate funds if the source can be traced. The Court reversed the lower court's judgment and remanded for a new trial on the trust issue.