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the share from the date of the order directing the personal
representative to pay, id.
The elective share retains many fundamental attributes of
statutory dower. See Hanley, Elective Share, in Basic Practice
Under Florida Probate Code, sec. 7.1, at 275 (3d ed. 1987);
Redfearn, Wills and Administration in Florida, sec. 19.3 (6th ed.
1986 & Supp. 1996). The Florida statutes governing the current
elective share and statutory dower provide a virtually absolute
right to the surviving spouse to elect to take the respective
shares, Fla. Stat. Ann. sec. 732.201 (West 1995); Fla. Stat.
Ann. sec. 731.34 (West 1964) (repealed 1974); Catlett v. Chesnut,
131 So. 120, 122 (Fla. 1930), both of which vest at death, In re
Estate of Donner, 364 So. 2d 742, 751 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978)
(dower vests at death); Fla. Stat. Ann. sec. 732.201 (West 1995)
(“The surviving spouse of a person who dies domiciled in Florida
shall have the right” to take her elective share). Like
statutory dower, the elective share becomes a fixed claim against
the estate as of the date of decedent’s death, Wax v. Wilson, 101
So. 2d 54, 57 (Fla. Ct. App. 1958) (citing Catlett v. Chesnut,
supra), of the amount determined by the Probate Court, Fla. Stat.
Ann. sec. 732.214 (West 1995).
Under Florida law, payment of the elective share takes
precedence over distributions to all other beneficiaries,
including those receiving specific bequests, Fla. Stat. Ann. sec.
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