Deborah Weeks v. David Weeks

Syllabus

Deborah T. Weeks and James R. Weeks, Jr. married in 1998. James died in 2017. His 2001 will left everything to his two children from a previous marriage. At the time of James' death, he was still legally married to Deborah. Their relationship had been stormy. Deborah began several actions in the family court. Several temporary orders were issued, but all the actions were eventually dismissed in 2012. After James died and his estate was opened in the probate court, Deborah filed for an elective share of James' estate as the surviving spouse. The probate court disallowed her claim. Deborah appealed to the circuit court, which affirmed the probate court in a Form 4 order. The court of appeals reversed. Weeks v. Weeks, Op. No. 2023-UP-151 (S.C. Ct. App. filed April 12, 2023). We granted certiorari as to two issues: (1) whether the court of appeals was right in holding Deborah was entitled to the elective share and (2) whether the court of appeals correctly reversed the probate court's ruling that certain real estate in James' estate should be valued using a minority discount. We affirm the court of appeals on the first issue and dismiss the writ as improvidently granted on the second.