In Robert M. Withers v. William B. Greene, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties that had been partially performed before one party died could be enforced against their estate after death. The plaintiff in error, Robert M. Withers, argued that he should receive payment from the deceased's estate for services rendered under a contract with Richard May prior to his death and requested an injunction restraining any interference by William B. Greene as administrator of May’s estate in collecting debts due on such contracts or disposing of assets belonging to it until further order from court; however, this request was denied by both lower courts and appealed to the Supreme Court who ultimately affirmed those decisions based upon precedent set forth in earlier cases which held that no action can be maintained against an executor or administrator for breach of contract entered into during lifetime unless there is some special agreement authorizing it at time when made or afterwards ratified by decedent while living; thus affirming that contracts cannot survive beyond death without specific provisions allowing them do so being included within them at time they were created..

In this case, Robert M. Withers argued that a contract he had made with the deceased Richard May should be enforced as it was written and agreed upon by both parties. The majority opinion of the court held that because Mr. May had died before any performance could take place on his part, there was no way to enforce the contract since contracts must be mutually performed in order for them to be valid under law. In dissent, Justice McLean argued that while death does indeed prevent one party from performing their contractual obligations, it did not necessarily mean that all rights associated with said contract were extinguished; rather they simply passed onto someone else who would then have standing to sue or defend against claims related to said agreement. He further stated that if such an interpretation of contracts were adopted then people would never enter into agreements involving long-term commitments due to fear of losing out on their rights should something happen during the course of fulfilling those obligations which prevented them from doing so themselves (such as death).