IMO the Estate of Edward H. Shinn, IV
06-20-07 A-3819-05T5
In this appeal, the court determined that the trial judge
mistakenly invoked the doctrine of equitable estoppel in
enforcing plaintiff Stacey Shinn's premarital waiver of an
elective share to the estate of her late husband, Edward Shinn,
IV, which waiver, in the circumstances, was otherwise rendered
unenforceable by N.J.S.A. 3B:8-10 and N.J.S.A. 37:2-38. The
court held that because "equity follows the law," the doctrine
of equitable estoppel should not have been utilized to override
the Legislature's declaration that a premarital agreement, which
did not fully disclose what was being waived or which did not
contain an adequate waiver of such a disclosure, must not be
enforced.