In Chappelaine, Residuary Legatee and Closrivierre, Adm'r de Bonis Non of Chappedelaine v. Dechenaux, Executor of Dumoussay the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a creditor could bring an action against an executor for debts owed by a deceased person. The court held that creditors may not sue executors in their personal capacity but must instead pursue claims through probate proceedings. This decision established the principle that creditors have no right to seek payment from estate representatives unless they are specifically authorized by law or contract to do so. Furthermore, it clarified that when such authorization is granted then any disputes between creditors and estate representatives should be resolved within the confines of probate proceedings rather than outside them in civil courts.

In Chappeldaine, Residuary Legatee and Closrivierre, Adm'r de Bonis Non of Chappedelaine v. Dechenaux, the Supreme Court was tasked with deciding whether a contract between two parties should be enforced. The majority opinion held that the contract should not be enforced because it violated public policy by attempting to limit an executor's power to distribute assets from an estate. Justice Johnson dissented on this ruling and argued that contracts are binding unless they violate some law or statute; in this case there were no such laws or statutes being broken so he believed that the contract should have been upheld as valid. He further argued that even if it did violate public policy, enforcing contracts is necessary for maintaining order in society and preventing chaos due to uncertainty about what will happen when agreements are made but then later disregarded without consequence.