Enforceable arbitration clauses are usually the result of a contract between parties. But does that work in probate law, where beneficiaries rarely sign contracts, and the most important party is always dead?

The Texas Supreme Court reversed two lower courts by answering "yes" to that question in a decision released May 3. The background, according to the high court’s May 3 decision in Hal Rachal Jr. v. John W. Reitz, is as follows.