Does the actio personalis maxim apply to a claim under the Wills Variation Act?

In Currie Estate v. Bowen the executors of the husband’s estate argued that the action under the Wills Variation Act was a personal action subject to the actio personalis maxim and therefore it could not be prosecuted by the widow’s executors. The court noted the decision in Barker and several subsequent decisions. It determined that the Wills Variation Act granted the widow a right to claim an equitable share in her husband’s estate. Because that right to advance the claim was granted by statute, and was not founded in tort, and because it was broader than a claim for mere support or maintenance, it followed that the cause of action survived the widow and was not subject to the actio personalis maxim. The right vested in her at the time of her husband’s death.