In the case of Adair v. Bank of America National Trust & Savings Association, 1937, the United States Supreme Court dealt with a dispute over an inheritance. The plaintiff, Mrs. Adair, was contesting her late husband's will which left his entire estate to their son and nothing to her due to their separation at the time of his death. She argued that under California law she was entitled to half of his property as community property acquired during marriage regardless of what the will stated. However, Mr. Adair had transferred most assets into trusts before he died in order to avoid probate and ensure they went directly to their son upon his death. The court ruled against Mrs.Adair stating that while it is true that spouses have equal rights over community property in California; this rule does not apply when one spouse voluntarily transfers title during life or by testamentary disposition after death unless there is evidence showing fraud or undue influence on part of recipient spouse (in this case -the son). Therefore since no such evidence existed here; all properties placed in trust were validly removed from community estate prior Mr.Adairs' demise hence could not be claimed by Mrs.Adair now.

In the dissenting opinion for Adair v. Bank of America National Trust & Savings Association, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a lower court ruling in favor of the bank failed to adequately consider important aspects of California law and precedent. The dissent took issue with how the majority interpreted California's "one form of action" rule, which states that there is only one form of civil action in legal proceedings. They believed this rule should have been applied more broadly to include all types of actions related to recovery on an obligation or debt, not just foreclosure suits as determined by the majority. Furthermore, they disagreed with how damages were calculated and felt that interest accrued during litigation should have been included in these calculations based on previous rulings from other cases within California courts.