Estate of Shaw

On February 8, 1923, William Shaw duly executed his last will and testament, in which, among other things, it was provided:

On February 16, 1925, he duly executed a codicil to his will changing the above provision to read as follows:

Shaw died March 17, 1925. On April 3, 1925, his will and testament was admitted to probate. Marie Shaw Mc-Reavy, the appellant here, was appointed executrix thereunder and qualified as such. On May 19, 1925, appellant filed a “Renunciation of Compensation Given Executrix by Will” worded as follows: “Comes now Marie Shaw Mc-Reavy, the duly appointed, qualified and acting Executrix of the above named estate and hereby renounces all compensation given her under the last will and testament of William Shaw, deceased, and hereby elects to take the compensation allowed her by law, under the provisions of Section 1618 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the State of California.”

At the time of his death Shaw was engaged in the business of building and selling houses, and at his decease he was the owner of a large number of houses and a large number of contracts for houses previously built. Some of these buildings were in process of construction and were…