Estate of Smith v. Commissioner

79 T.C. No. 61, 79 T.C. 974, 1982 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 9
United States Tax Court·Decided December 2, 1982·No. Docket No. 18290-80·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Nims, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioner’s estate taxes of $14,736.14. The only issue for determination is whether a bequest to decedent’s husband is entitled to a section 20561 marital deduction.

All of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.

Helen Longsworth Smith died on January 3,1978. Metropolitan Bank of Lima, Ohio, is the executor of her estate. The executor maintained its principal office in Lima, Ohio, when it filed the petition in this case.

Helen Longsworth Smith’s last will and testament was executed on May 29, 1975. The will directed that decedent’s debts and taxes be paid out of her estate. It further devised decedent’s tangible personal property to specified individuals. The residue of decedent’s estate was devised pursuant to the following provision:

All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, of whatsoever nature and wheresoever situated, that I may own at the time of my decease, I give, devise and bequeath to THE METROPOLITAN BANK OF LIMA, OHIO, as TRUSTEE, under an existing Trust Agreement heretofore entered into by me as Grantor and The Metropolitan Bank of Lima, Ohio, as Trustee on May 29,1975.
In making this disposition of my residuary estate, it is not my intention or desire to incorporate said Trust Agreement into this my Last Will and Testament, and the receipt of the Trustee for the property devised and bequeathed to it under this Item shall constitute a complete release and acquittal of my Executors and shall discharge my Executors from any further liability or accountability therefor.

Attached to the May 29, 1975, trust agreement was a schedule which included the following provisions which are relevant to the marital deduction issue:

THIRD: If the Grantor is survived by her husband, Morris H. Smith, the Trustee shall pay over the net income from the trust estate to said husband in quarter annual or more frequent installments during the remainder of his natural lifetime. In addition to the distributions of income, the Trustee at any time and from time to time is fully authorized to make such payment to said husband from the principal of the Truste [sic] estate as he may request and should all of the trust estate be withdrawn, this trust shall terminate. Should the Grantor’s husband become mentally or physically incapacitated as certified to the Trustee by his personal physician in writing, the Trustee is authorized to expend the income and so much of the principal of the trust estate as the Trustee in its sole discretion shall deem advisable for the comfortable maintenance and support of the Grantor’s husband during such disability,
FOURTH: Upon the death of the survivor of the Grantor and her husband, Morris H. Smith, the Trustee shall pay over and distribute as follows: [List of gifts omitted.]

On May 19, 1977, decedent modified article Fourth of the trust agreement to read as follows:

FOURTH: Should the Grantor’s husband, Morris H. Smith, be not living at the time of the Grantor’s death, then the Trustee shall pay over and distribute as follows: [List of gifts omitted.]

Decedent also added the following provision to the trust agreement on May 19,1977:

12. It is the intention of the Grantor that her husband, if he survives her, shall have the entire principal and income of the trust available to him without limitations of any kind and understands that her estate will not be entitled to a charitable deduction for federal estate tax purposes. It is further the intention of the Grantor that to the extent any property in this trust will be included in the gross estate of her husband for federal estate tax purposes that such property will qualify for charitable deduction purposes in the federal estate tax proceeding in his estate.

On the estate tax return, petitioner deducted the amount of the bequest to the trust as a marital deduction. Respondent disallowed this deduction.

Section 2056(a) allows a deduction for bequests to surviving spouses. However, section 2056(b) prevents a marital deduction for gifts of terminable interests. Section 2056(b)(1) provides:

SEC. 2056(b). Limitation in the Case of Life Estate or Other Terminable Interest.—
(1) General rule. — Where, on the lapse of time, on the occurrence of an event or contingency, or on the failure of an event or contingency to occur, an interest passing to the surviving spouse will terminate or fail, no deduction shall be allowed under this section with respect to such interest—

But section 2056(b) provides an exception to the exception, as follows:

(5) Life estate with power of appointment in surviving spouse. — In the case of an interest in property passing from the decedent, if his surviving spouse is entitled for life to all the income from the entire interest, or all the income from a specific portion thereof, payable annually or at more frequent intervals, with power in the surviving spouse to appoint the entire interest, or such specific portion (exercisable in favor of such surviving spouse, or of the estate of such surviving spouse, or in favor of either, whether or not in each case the power is exercisable in favor of others), and with no power in any other person to appoint any part of the interest, or such specific portion, to any person other than the surviving spouse—
(A) the interest or such portion thereof so passing shall, for purposes of subsection (a), be considered as passing to the surviving spouse, and
(B) no part of the interest so passing shall, for purposes of paragraph (1)(A), be considered as passing to any person other than the surviving spouse.
This paragraph shall apply only if such power in the surviving spouse to appoint the entire interest, or such specific portion thereof, whether exercisable by will or during life, is exercisable by such spouse alone and in all events.

The parties agree that the bequest through the trust gave decedent’s husband a terminable interest in property. The issue is whether the husband’s power of appointment over the property satisfies the requirements for deductibility contained in section 2056(b)(5).

In his brief, respondent presented his arguments for disallowing the marital deduction as follows:

1. Under Ohio law the decedent’s husband received a life estate with the power to consume the principal, but without a general power of appointment, because the trustee is authorized but not required to make payments of the principal to the decedent’s husband upon his request; and because the decedent’s husband is not specifically given the power to make gifts of the principal.
2.

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Estate of Smith v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. No. 61, 79 T.C. 974, 1982 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 9 (tax 1982).

79 T.C. No. 61 (Estate of Smith v. Commissioner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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