Meriwether L. Clark, Executor, and William P. Clark, George R. H. Clark, and Jefferson Kennerly Clark were heirs at law of William in a Supreme Court case from 1839. The infant Jefferson was represented by his guardian ad litem and next friend George R.H., who argued that the defendants had wrongfully taken possession of property belonging to the estate of their deceased father without due process or legal authority to do so; they sought damages for this trespass as well as an injunction against further interference with the estate's assets or rights theretofore enjoyed by them under their father's will. The court ultimately found in favor of the plaintiffs on both counts: it awarded damages for trespass and granted an injunction against any future interference with their rights under said will

In Meriwether L. Clark, Executor, and William P. Clark, George R. H. Clark, and Jefferson Kennerly Clark v the United States of America (1839), the dissenting opinion argued that a payment made by an executor to satisfy a debt should not be considered taxable income for the estate under federal law because it was already part of the estate’s assets when it was received from another party in satisfaction of a debt owed to them by their decedent prior to his death. The dissenters argued that since this money had been previously owned by the decedent before his death and thus belonged to him at that time as part of his estate's assets; any subsequent payment made with those funds could not be taxed as income for purposes of taxation on estates under federal law because such payments were merely transfers between two parties who both held title over those same funds prior to their transferral or exchange between them - they did not represent new wealth created through labor or investment which would otherwise qualify as taxable income according to existing laws governing taxation on estates at that time period in history.