Estate of Opal v. Commissioner

54 T.C. 154, 1970 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 222
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 5, 1970
DocketDocket No. 4144-66
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 54 T.C. 154 (Estate of Opal 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 Opal v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 154, 1970 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 222 (tax 1970).

Opinions

OPINION

Petitioner and her husband executed a joint last will and testament, leaving Edward’s property to Mae. (Respondent contends that the property interest passing to Mae from Edward does not qualify for the marital deduction under section 2056.2

He argues that: (1) Under Few York law Mae is contractually bound to devise and bequeath to Warren the unconsumed portions of the property which came to her from Edward; and that (2) because of the limitations imposed on the use of the property by reason of this contractual obligation, her interest in the property is in effect a life estate with broad powers of invasion that do not include an ability to give it away by an inter vivos gift which would defeat the purposes of the contract; and that such an interest fails to qualify for the marital deduction, since it is a terminable interest under section 2056 (b) (1) which does not qualify as a life estate with a power of appointment under section 2056 (b) (5).

Petitioner, on the other hand, contends that she received “a fee simple and absolute” under the will and is not contractually bound to devise the property to her son.

At the outset, an interpretation of the joint will is necessary in order to ascertain the nature of the property interest passing to Mae and the existence or nonexistence of a contractual obligation to devise to her son any property received from Edward. The law of New York is determinative of that interest. Estate of Julius Selling, 24 T.C. 191, 197 (1955).

The introductory language of the first paragraph of the will explicitly states that the dispositions are irrevocable and that each is in consideration of the other. In the second provision, clause 0, Mae is to devise her estate to Warren. Necessarily that estate will include any remaining portions of the property received from Edward, as well as her own property. No indication is evidenced in clause O that property received from Edward is to be treated any differently from Mae’s. If any part of his estate remains at her death it will be in her estate, and it is the devising of Mae’s estate to the son which the introductory paragraph makes irrevocable. Hence, it appears that Mae is contractually bound to devise Edward’s estate to the son at her death.

Petitioner contends, however, that the use of the phrase “absolutely and forever” in clause B of the second provision of the will precludes a finding of a contractual obligation to devise the property received from Edward and requires a finding that Mae received “a fee simple and absolute” in her husband’s estate. She refers us to two New York cases which hold that no contract existed to devise property received from a decedent when the dispositive provisions of the will under consideration used language of absolute gift in devising property to the survivor. Matter of Zeh, 24 App. Div. 2d 983, 265 N.Y.S. 2d 257, affirmed on opinion of lower court 18 N.Y. 2d 900 (1965), 223 N.E. 2d 43 (1966); Matter of Silverman, 43 Misc. 2d 909, 252 N.Y.S. 2d 587 (Sur. Ct. 1964).

We have carefully examined Silverman and Zeh and find them distinguishable. The issue before the court in Zeh was whether a contract to devise could be implied from the format of the will and the wording of the dispositive provisions. There was no independent contractual language in the will nor a contemporaneous agreement to make the will irrevocable. The provisions therein under consideration are as follows (24 App. Div. 2d at 984,265 N.Y.S. 2d at 259):

“1. We, or said survivor, give and devise all of the real property together with all buildings thereon and equipment used in connection therewith, of which we, or said survivor, may die seized and/or possessed or in which we, or said survivor, may have any interest or to which we, or said survivor, may be entitled at the time of our deaths, or at the death of said survivor, to our son, WILLIAM ARTHUR ZEH, to him to have and to hold, his heirs and assigns absolutely and forever.
“2. We, or the survivor of us, give and bequeath unto our children EANNIE REBECCA HOWELL and WILLIAM ARTHUR ZEH, share and share alike, all of the personal estate of which we, or said survivor, may die possessed, including by way of illustration but not of limitation all furniture and furnishings, jewelry, trinkets and any and all other articles of like nature, together with all moneys in banks, bank deposits, stocks, bonds, mortages and moneys due or to become due.”

The court held that no contract existed, basing its result on the New York rules that (1) clear and convincing evidence is necessary to establish a contract to make a will irrevocable, Oursler v. Armstrong, 10 N.Y. 2d 385, 179 N.E. 2d 489 (1961), and (2) in order to cut down an absolute gift of real or personal property the latter part of the will must evidence a clear intention, to do so by use of words definite in their meaning. Tillman v. Ogren, 227 N.Y. 495, 505, 125 N.E. 821-824 (1920). Likewise, in Matter of Silverman, sufra, the will contained no contractual language and the court concluded that there was no contract, principally because of the term “absolutely” which modified the disposition to the survivor. Significantly, the court there stated:

There is here no independent contract and the provisions of the will itself negate the existence of any contractual obligation * * * to dispose of any or all of the property so received in any particular manner.

In the instant case there is independent contractual language which, we think, provides the “clear and convincing” evidence necessary to establish the contract and override the phrase “absolutely and forever.”

The case of Ralyea v. Venners, 155 Misc. 539, 280 N.Y. Supp. 8 (Sup. Ct. 1935), more closely resembles the situation herein under consideration. The spouses there executed an agreement not to “execute any agreement providing for a distribution of his or her property other than that contained in the joint will executed simultaneously herewith” and further providing that “it being understood and agreed that after the death of either party,” no new will was to be executed by the other. (155 Misc. at 541, 280 N.Y. Supp. at 11.) The will’s provision gave “unto the survivor of us, all and any real and personal property either owned by us jointly or severally for his or her own use and benefit forever.” The following article of the joint will provided: “Upon the death of both of us in a common accident or upon the death of the survivor of us, all the property * * * is hereby given, devised and bequeathed to our children * * (155 Misc, at 540, 280 N.Y. Supp. at 10.) The Supreme Court found that a contract existed to devise the property received, despite the use of the word “forever” in the dispositive provisions to the survivor.

While the will here being considered is structured differently than that in Balyea, nevertheless that case is most persuasive for the proposition that under the law of New York, language of absolute gift may be overridden by a contractual agreement.

We think that a New York court, if confronted by the will herein under consideration, would hold that a contract does exist. To find otherwise would require a complete negation of the first paragraph of the will. As we read the will, the primary concern of both parties was that the son be the ultimate beneficiary of the property of both.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Estate of Davis v. Comm'r
2003 T.C. Memo. 55 (U.S. Tax Court, 2003)
Estate of Adams v. Commissioner
1990 T.C. Memo. 607 (U.S. Tax Court, 1990)
Estate of Foster v. Commissioner
1983 T.C. Memo. 77 (U.S. Tax Court, 1983)
Du Pont v. Commissioner
1978 T.C. Memo. 16 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)
Estate of Craft v. Commissioner
68 T.C. 249 (U.S. Tax Court, 1977)
Estate of Siegel v. Commissioner
67 T.C. 662 (U.S. Tax Court, 1977)
Estate of Prox v. Commissioner
1976 T.C. Memo. 229 (U.S. Tax Court, 1976)
Estate of Trunk v. Commissioner
65 T.C. 230 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)
Estate of Neugass v. Commissioner
65 T.C. 188 (U.S. Tax Court, 1975)
Estate of Beyer v. Commissioner
1974 T.C. Memo. 24 (U.S. Tax Court, 1974)
Estate of Abruzzino v. Commissioner
61 T.C. 306 (U.S. Tax Court, 1973)
Estate of Aquilino v. Commissioner
1972 T.C. Memo. 185 (U.S. Tax Court, 1972)
Estate of Park v. Commissioner
57 T.C. 705 (U.S. Tax Court, 1972)
Estate of Krampf v. Commissioner
56 T.C. 293 (U.S. Tax Court, 1971)
Estate of Ray v. Commissioner
54 T.C. 1170 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)
Estate of Cook v. Commissioner
1970 T.C. Memo. 68 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)
Estate of Opal v. Commissioner
54 T.C. 154 (U.S. Tax Court, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
54 T.C. 154, 1970 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-opal-v-commissioner-tax-1970.