Spreckels v. Spreckels
Supreme Court of California
158 P. 537 (1916)
Relevant factsFree
Claus Spreckles made lifetime gifts of community property worth over $25 million to sons John and Adolph (defendants) without his wife Anna's written consent as then required by California law; Anna's later will, aware of these gifts, explicitly explained she excluded John and Adolph from her own estate precisely because Claus had already provided for them, and after her death, other children (plaintiffs) sued claiming the gifts were void for lack of Anna's written consent.
IssueFree
Whether written acknowledgement in a wife's will of a husband's independent lifetime gift of community property functions as the wife's consent to the lifetime gift.