Ann Lupton, appellant, brought a case against Phineas Janney, executor of David Lupton the Younger who had passed away. Ann argued that she was entitled to receive an inheritance from her father's estate as his only surviving child and heir at law. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ann and held that she was indeed entitled to inherit from her father's estate due to the fact that there were no other heirs or devisees specified by him in his will. This ruling established precedent for future cases regarding intestate succession when there are no other heirs or devisees named in a will.

In the dissenting opinion of Ann Lupton v. Phineas Janney, Justice McLean argued that the court should have found in favor of Appellant Ann Lupton. He believed that under Virginia law, a widow was entitled to her dower rights regardless of whether she had been married before or not. The majority opinion held that because Ann had been previously married and divorced prior to marrying David Lupton, she was not eligible for dower rights as provided by Virginia law at the time. However, Justice McLean disagreed with this interpretation and argued instead that since there were no laws prohibiting remarriage after divorce in Virginia at the time when Ann and David were wed, then it would be unjust to deny her those rights which are usually granted upon marriage. Furthermore he noted that if such an interpretation were allowed to stand it could lead to other injustices where one spouse is denied their legal right due solely on account of a previous marriage status rather than any fault or misdeed on their part.