In October 2025, the Fayette Circuit Court awarded Nancy Perrine control over her late husband William E. Perrine’s $2.33 million Schwab accounts, citing Kentucky’s dower law.
Perrine and Bill, who had reconnected in 2007 after both had survived prior spouses, married in October 2015 without a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, leaving their finances unbound by any written contract.
Because Bill died intestate on February 6, 2024, the state’s dower provision granted Nancy entitlement to half of his surplus personal property, irrespective of the transfer‑on‑death designations that normally bypass probate.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals rejected the children’s argument that the transfer‑on‑death labels excluded the accounts, noting that Bill retained the power to withdraw, change beneficiaries or close the accounts at will, thereby keeping the property within his control and subject to dower rights.
With the appellate decision in place, the children must abandon their challenge; they may file a petition for review with the Kentucky Supreme Court, though the current ruling remains enforceable until such appeal is decided.