Walker v. Walker's Executor was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1869. The case involved a dispute between the executor of a deceased man's estate and the deceased man's widow. The widow, Mrs. Walker, had been married to the deceased man for over twenty years and had been living with him for the entire duration of their marriage. The dispute arose when the executor of the deceased man's estate refused to pay Mrs. Walker her share of the estate. The executor argued that Mrs. Walker was not entitled to any of the estate because she had not been legally married to the deceased man. Mrs. Walker argued that she was entitled to her share of the estate because she had been living with the deceased man for over twenty years and had been married to him in the eyes of the law. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with Mrs. Walker and held that she was entitled to her share of the estate. The Court reasoned that Mrs. Walker had been living with the deceased man for over twenty years and had been married to him in the eyes of the law. Therefore, the Court held that Mrs. Walker was entitled to her share of the estate.

In Walker v. Walker's Executor, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a widow had the right to receive her deceased husband’s pension payments after his death. The majority opinion held that she did not have such a right because Congress had never intended for pensions to be paid out in this manner and there were no laws on the books granting widows such rights. However, Justice Field dissented from this ruling and argued that it would be unjust for Congress not to provide some form of compensation or support for surviving spouses who depended upon their husbands' military service-related pensions as part of their livelihood. He further noted that while there may have been no explicit law allowing widows access to these funds, it could reasonably be inferred from existing statutes governing veterans' benefits that they should include provisions protecting survivors in cases like this one. Ultimately, Justice Field concluded by urging Congress to pass legislation explicitly providing protection for surviving spouses so as not “to leave them destitute” when their husbands passed away without having made adequate provision for them beforehand