Estate of Gilchrist v. Commissioner

69 T.C. 5, 1977 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 40
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 11, 1977
DocketDocket No. 735-76
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 69 T.C. 5 (Estate of Gilchrist 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
Estate of Gilchrist v. Commissioner, 69 T.C. 5, 1977 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 40 (tax 1977).

Opinion

Sterrett, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in the estate tax of the Estate of Anna Lora Gilchrist in the amount of $231,051.83.1 Due to concessions by the parties2 the remaining issue for decision is whether the decedent held, at the time of her death, a general power of appointment, under her husband’s last will and testament, over jointly held property thereby causing it to be included in her gross estate under section 2041,1.R.C. 1954.3

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts, together with the exhibits attached thereto, are incorporated herein by this reference.

Anna Lora Gilchrist (decedent) died testate on March 22,1973, while a resident of Fort Worth, Tex. Layland Myatt and Elizabeth Fewell Dearborn were named independent coexecutor and coexecutrix, respectively, in decedent’s will, and they duly qualified as such in Cause No. A-15516, Probate Court of Tarrant County, Tex. At the time of filing the petition herein, Layland Myatt was a resident of Fort Worth, Tex., and Elizabeth Fewell Dearborn was a resident of Alexander, Ark. The Federal estate tax return was filed with the Director, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, Tex., on February 27,1974.

Decedent’s husband, Charlie Frank Gilchrist (hereinafter sometimes referred to as husband), died on June 25,1960. In his last will and testament dated February 23, 1952, after making specific bequests totaling $40,000, he provided as follows:

I give devise and bequeath to my beloved wife, Anna Lora Gilchrist, the income the use and benefits with full rights to sell or transferall the remainder of my property, both real and personal, so long as she may live, and at her death, any remainder of my estate not required for her use, shall be divided equally among the Estates of Jennie Gilchrist Haughawout deeeased.Mrs Ida Grant Mrs Marcella Yates and Melvin Gilchrist deceased.
Fifth: I hereby nominate and appoint my Beloved Wife Anna Lora Gilchrist, Independent Executrix of this my last will and Testament and direct that no Bond be required of her as such.and that the Probate Court have no control over my estate other than to admit this will to Probate and approve inventory and appraisment. [Reproduced literally.]

Decedent served as independent executrix of her husband’s estate from the time of her qualification until October 20, 1971, at which time the Probate Court of Tarrant County, Tex., entered its order in Cause No. A-12616 adjudicating decedent to be a person of unsound mind and appointing guardians of her person and estate.4 Shortly thereafter an order was entered in the husband’s estate, Cause No. 30334, Probate Court of Tarrant County, Tex., removing decedent as independent executrix and appointing Ada Louise Crockett (Crockett), administratrix. Crockett was not a beneficiary under the will of Charlie Gilchrist. Decedent remained a ward of the court until her death.

At the time of her husband’s death decedent was 72 years of age, childless, and had no dependents. Her undivided one-half interest in the community was valued in excess of $500,000 and, additionally, she owned separate property.5

On Schedule E of the Federal estate tax return petitioner reported only one-half of the jointly owned property held by decedent and the Estate of Charlie Gilchrist. Respondent in his notice of deficiency, dated November 14,1975, determined that the decedent received a section 2041 general power of appointment under her husband’s will and accordingly included the entire value of the jointly held property, instead of a one-half interest, in decedent’s taxable estate.

OPINION

The sole issue for our decision is whether Mrs. Gilchrist at the date of her death had a general power of appointment within the meaning of section 2041(a)(2)6 under the terms of her husband’s will. Petitioner, on brief, has launched a five-prong attack on respondent’s determination, to wit: (1) The power was not general as it was limited by an ascertainable standard under section 2041(b)(1)(A);7 (2) under section 2041 (b)(l)(C)(ii)8 the power was exercisable by decedent only in conjunction with a person having a substantial interest in the property, subject to the power, which was adverse to the exercise of the power in favor of the decedent; (3) that the decedent effectively disclaimed the power prior to the date of her death; (4) that Mrs. Gilchrist was judicially estopped to claim more than a life income interest in the property subject to the power; and (5) the decedent did not possess a general power at the date of her death because she previously had been declared a person of unsound mind and therefore had no legal capacity to exercise any power under her husband’s will. Respondent does not agree with any of petitioner’s alternative arguments and will seperately scrutinize petitioner’s five contentions hereinafter.

1. The power limited by an ascertainable standard. — Petitioner argues that, although “at first blush” the disposition provision9 of Charlie Gilchrist’s will appears to have created in his wife a general power of appointment, the use of the phrase “any remainder of my estate not required for her use” should not be presumed to have been idly inserted by Mr. Gilchrist; rather its employment and placement obviously imposed some limitation upon the grant of authority preceding it. Petitioner contends that both the terms “require” and “use” have been held to impose limitations upon bequests equatable with support and maintenance and their joint employment in the will strongly suggests Mr. Gilchrist’s intention to limit the scope of the power. “Require” has been interpreted to mean “need” and that need equates with maintenance according to one’s station in life. Furthermore petitioner contends that the surrounding circumstances buttress this conclusion. At the time of her husband’s death Mrs. Gilchrist was 72 years of age and, at date of execution of his will and at his death, she was without descendants or dependents and was financially secure. Mr. Gilchrist expected his relatives to be the ultimate beneficiaries of his estate and the use of the phrase “not required for her use” mandates the conclusion that the power conferred upon his wife was limited in scope to her needs of support and maintenance.

Respondent contends that Mr. Gilchrist’s will authorizes his wife to use corpus without expressing or designating any use or purpose. The literal reading of the phrase “not required for her use” does not state any ascertainable standard and her husband gave her the “full rights to sell or transfer all the remainder of his property.” The dispositive clause clearly leaves to her discretion the kind and extent of the use which she required or desired. Additionally, the surrounding circumstances, as well as the terms of the will itself, clearly indicated Mr. Gilchrist’s intentions. He and his wife had no children or dependents, he prepared his own will, and prior to his wife’s bequest he provided cash bequests for all of his heirs. It was Mr.

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69 T.C. 5, 1977 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 40, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-gilchrist-v-commissioner-tax-1977.