CORRECTION

A headline on this page Tuesday incorrectly said that a ruling would give a share of John W. Pope Jr.'s estate to his siblings. Instead, the ruling by Wake County Clerk of Court Jan Pueschel stated that Pope's share of a family trust was correctly transferred to his family's nonprofit foundation.

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Jane Forbes Pope, who married into one of Raleigh's most affluent and politically influential families, is not entitled to inherit $50 million from her deceased husband's estate.

In a nine-page order, Jan Pueschel, clerk of Wake Superior Court, ruled that Jane Forbes Pope, who was married to John W. Pope Jr. for four years, will not receive half of her husband's money that was transferred to a Pope family foundation after his death in March 2004. The Popes own Variety Wholesalers Inc., which runs discount retail stores across the Southeast, such as Roses and Maxway stores, with an estimated $800 million in annual sales.

Raleigh lawyer Stuart Dorsett, who represents Jane Forbes Pope, said they would appeal the clerk's ruling to Wake Superior Court. Jane Forbes Pope challenged the actions of her brother-in-law, Art Pope, a Raleigh lawyer and former legislator, and sister-in-law, Amanda Joyce Pope, who moved the funds out of a family trust to the foundation after John Pope Jr. died.

"Neither our actions as trustees, nor the court's decision, deprived Jane Pope of so much as a dime that she was entitled to," said Art Pope in a statement released Monday. "If Jane Pope appeals the court's decision, we are confident that the Superior Court and appellate courts will reach the same decision, because the law and the facts remain the same."

What is in dispute is John Pope Jr.'s share of a family trust, which amounted to an estimated $100 million in company stock. The trust was designed so that each sibling's share went to the family's foundation after they died if they didn't have a birth child; therefore, surviving spouses got no share. The siblings used the trust to pay their living and other expenses.

So after John Pope Jr. died, his siblings, as trustees of the family trust, transferred their brother's money to the John W. Pope Foundation, a nonprofit that gives generously to artistic, educational and politically conservative causes. The siblings say they were compelled to do what the trust agreement required.

"We are pleased that the clerk vindicated the position of John's trust and the foundation," said the Pope siblings' lawyer, Johnny M. Loper of Raleigh. "John created the trust in 1986, long before he married and long before he met Jane Forbes Pope. Under the terms of the trust, John could not have given Jane the assets of the trust while he was living; it's inconceivable that Jane can argue she is entitled to those assets after John's death and contrary to his clear, longstanding desire that the assets should go to the family's charitable foundation."

Jane Forbes Pope argued that a state law passed in 2000 entitled her to half of her husband's share of the family trust because it expanded the assets that a surviving spouse can seek. The law created what is called "an elective share," and was designed to increase the property available to surviving spouses. She says the money held in the trust was such an asset under the law.

"Obviously, we're disappointed that the clerk interpreted the elective share statute in a way that we think defeats the purpose," said Dorsett, her lawyer.

Without a share of the trust funds, all that Jane Forbes Pope will receive is the proceeds of the estate, which were almost $5 million.

The widow also has a pending lawsuit in Wake Superior court claiming her husband's siblings fraudulently tried to keep her from her rightful inheritance. Art Pope has previously predicted that he and his sister would be vindicated in that litigation as well.