Dorsey v. Commissioner

19 T.C. 493, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 14
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedDecember 22, 1952
DocketDocket No. 24271
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 19 T.C. 493 (Dorsey v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dorsey v. Commissioner, 19 T.C. 493, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 14 (tax 1952).

Opinion

OPINION.

Harron, Judge:

The only question to be decided is whether the petitioner is entitled to deduct from the value of the gross estate under section 812 (d)5 of the Internal Revenue Code all or any part of the sum of $178,731.64 as a bequest for public, charitable, and religious uses. The principal issues are whether the value of the residue of decedent’s estate placed in trust under Item 20 of his will, with the income therefrom and so much of the corpus as may be necessary to be used to provide scholarships at Western Maryland College for the relatives of the decedent, is deductible as a charitable bequest. Further, whether the residue of the trust fund bequeathed to Western Maryland College in perpetuity, upon termination of the trust, for educational purposes, had any ascertainable value as of the date of decedent’s death. The Western Maryland College is an organization admittedly charitable in nature within the scope of section 812 (d) of the Code.

Under Item 20 of the decedent’s will the residue of his estate was placed in trust with the net income from the trust together with such portion of the corpus as may be necessary, to be used to provide scholarships at Western Maryland College for the decedent’s grandnieces and grandnephews for the term of the trust. Upon termination of the trust the residue of the trust estate whether of corpus or accumulated income is to be turned over to the Western Maryland College, to be held, invested and administered by them, and the net income to be used for the purpose of providing scholarships for deserving, young men and women, with a preference to be accorded relatives of the decedent. In addition to the power vested in the trustees under Item 20 of the will, to invade the corpus of the trust estate, they are directed in Items 6, 7, and 8 to provide funds out of the corpus for the payment of certain expenses incident to the maintenance of parcels of real estate, and for the support and care of decedent’s sisters.

The petitioner contends, in the first instance, that the trust created under Item 20 of the will, to provide scholarships for decedent’s grandnieces and grandnephews, is for educational purposes and public in nature, so that the residuary estate conveyed to the trustees aggregating $178,731.64 as computed by petitioner, is deductible under section 812 (d) of the Code. Petitioner also argues, that the will fixes a standard for determining the extent of permissible invasion of the trust corpus for private uses; that the possibility of invasion of the trust corpus for private uses is too remote to defeat the residual bequest, upon the termination of the trust, to Western Maryland College for educational purposes; and that the residual bequest is for a charitable use notwithstanding the preference to be accorded the descendants of decedent’s brothers and sisters in the granting of scholarships by Western Maryland College.

The respondent contends that the trust is for private rather than for charitable uses, and therefore the value thereof is not deductible under section 812 (d). He contends, also, that because of the permissible and intended invasion of the corpus, for the various purposes enumerated in the will, the value, if any, of the residual bequest, to Western Maryland College for educational purposes is not ascertainable.

The petitioner’s first contention is without merit. The trust cannot be construed as one in which a general class of beneficiaries is designated, with a preference accorded to relatives of the decedent, who are members of the general class, as were the provisions of the will in Commonwealth Trust Co. of Pittsburgh v. Granger, 57 F. Supp. 502, relied on by petitioner. The primary purpose of the trust in the instant case, is to provide scholarships exclusively for the grandnieces and grandnephews of the decedent. In addition, Items 6, 7, and 8 of the will direct the payment, out of the trust corpus, of other sums for the benefit of individuals therein designated for so long as they shall live. A trust created for the above purposes is not charitable in nature within the inteñt and scope of section 812 (d). It lacks an essential characteristic of a charitable .trust, namely, the uncertainty and indefiniteness of beneficiaries. Russell v. Allen, 107 U. S. 163, 167; Scott on Trusts, Vol. 3, secs. 364, 370, 375. Accordingly, the value of the residue conveyed to the trustees is not deductible as a transfer for public, charitable and religious uses. Commonwealth Trust Co. of Pittsburgh v. Granger, supra; S. E. Thomason, 2 T. C. 441; Amy Hutchison Crellin, 46 B. T. A. 1152.

The next issue is whether under Item 20 of the will the residual bequest of the trust corpus to Western Maryland College in perpetuity for educational purposes had any definitely ascertainable value as of the date of the decedent’s death. Western Maryland College will not receive the trust residue, if any, until the termination of the private trust, the corpus of which is subject to being invaded and consumed. For present purposes the private trust must be considered as terminating 20 years after the last to die of six persons, whose ages at decedent’s death were from 34 to 45 years, provided that two persons, age 73 and 66, at decedent’s death, are then dead.6

Where a bequest is made of the residue of a trust corpus for charitable uses, and the trustee is empowered during the term of the trust to invade the corpus for private uses, the residual bequest to charity, to be deductible under section 812 (d), must have an ascertainable value as of the date of a decedent’s death, and must be severable from the interest in favor of the private use. Merchants Nat. Bank of Boston v. Commissioner, 320 U. S. 256, 261; Henslee v. Union Planters Nat. Bank & Trust Co., et al., 335 U. S. 595; Regulations 105, sections 81.44 to 81.47. “And in these cases the taxpayer has the burden of establishing that the amounts which will either be spent by the private beneficiary or reach the charity are thus accurately calculable.” Merchants Nat. Bank, supra, p. 261.

In this case the petitioner has not sustained that burden. No fixed standard for measuring in terms of money the extent of the directed and permissible invasion of the corpus for private uses can be determined either by reference to the will itself or to the applicable provisions of the law of the jurisdiction governing the trust. The extent of directed invasion, under Items 6, 7, and 8 of the will, for the payment of certain expenses incident to the maintenance of parcels of real estate, could probably be stated in terms of money with reasonable accuracy, although petitioner has made no effort to establish such facts. But the extent of permissible invasion under Item 7 for the compensation of any person engaged to attend decedent’s sister, Amy Dorsey, which expense decedent made “a first and paramount charge” upon the residue of his estate, cannot be readily stated or measured. Amy Dorsey was 66 years of age at decedent’s' death. The record does not disclose the condition of her health then, or whether she had any independent income, or any separate estate.

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Related

Davis v. Commissioner
55 T.C. 416 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)
Estate of Hutchinson v. Commissioner
51 T.C. 874 (U.S. Tax Court, 1969)
Canal National Bank v. United States
258 F. Supp. 626 (D. Maine, 1966)
Dorsey v. Commissioner
19 T.C. 493 (U.S. Tax Court, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 T.C. 493, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dorsey-v-commissioner-tax-1952.