Estate of Williams v. Commissioner

62 T.C. No. 46, 62 T.C. 400, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 87
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJune 25, 1974
DocketDocket No. 6194-72
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 62 T.C. No. 46 (Estate of Williams 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 Williams v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. No. 46, 62 T.C. 400, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 87 (tax 1974).

Opinion

Deennen, Judge:

Kespondent determined a deficiency in Federal estate tax for the Estate of Clarence A. Williams in the amount of $115,821.54. The issues before the Court are whether, at the time of his death, Clarence A. Williams had a vested interest in either (1) a portion of the corpus of a testamentary trust established by his uncle or (2) the income from a portion of the corpus of the trust, which is includable in his gross estate under section 2038,1.K.C. 1954.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The facts have been fully stipulated by the parties and are found accordingly.

Petitioner is the Estate of Clarence A. Williams, deceased, William E. Nodine, administrator d.b.n. with the will attached, who at the time the petition was filed had his legal address in Clearwater, Fla. Clarence A. Williams died April 29, 1968, a resident of Clearwater, Fla. The estate tax return for the Estate of Clarence A. Williams was received 'by the director of internal revenue, Jacksonville, Fla., on February 25,1969.

Up to the time of his death, Clarence A. Williams received a portion of the income from a trust established under the will of Joseph L. Friedman, the decedent’s uncle.

Joseph L. Friedman died a resident of Paducah, Ky., in 1913. His last will and testament, dated June 25, 1908, was duly admitted to probate on July 9,1913,1 by the County Court for McCracken County, Ky. The will of Friedman created a testamentary trust. The portion of Friedman’s will that established the trust provided:

Now after tbe foregoing devises and bequests are provided for and executed, it is my will that the balance of my estate be converted into good, interest-bearing securities which shall be turned over by my executors to the Louisville Trust Company of Louisville, Kentucky, as trustee, if in the opinion of my executors that Company is in a position to handle the balance of my estate; but be it understood that it is my will that my executors shall exercise their discretion as to the selection of a trustee, preferring, however, the Louisville Trust Company if it shall continue to be a solvent and reputable concern in their judgment. Such securities shall be held by such trustee and in trust for the benefit of my mother, Mrs. Louisa Friedman, and my sisters, Mrs. Ida Williams, Mrs. Blanche C. Keiler and Mrs. Sunshine F. Nahm and their children and [sic] hereinafter provided. The trustee will keep the trust fund invested in the best and safest securities to be found at the best interest rates to be secured, having at all times due regard to the safety of the investments, and will pay to my mother and my three sisters, or to the heirs of such of my sisters as may die, equally the income from said trust fund. When my mother dies her interest in said income is to go to her daughters or their children, if any of them be dead. And the interest of each of my sisters in the income from said estate in the hands of such trustee upon her death shall go to her children. It being my purpose to create an estate in the hands of the trustee to be selected as hereinabove set forth, the income from which shall go to my mother and my three sisters as long as my mother lives and at her death to my three sisters as long as they live and in the event of the death of either one of them her interest shall go to her children.
It is my will that the funds in the hands of the trustee provided for herein shall be held by such trustee and the income therefrom paid as hereinbefore directed until the death of the last to survive of my three sisters hereinbefore named; and for twenty-one years thereafter; and at the expiration of the period of twenty-one years after the death of the last to survive of my said three sisters then the estate in the hands of said trustee shall be divided, one-third to the heirs of each of my said sisters.

Friedman was survived by his mother, Louisa Friedman, and his three sisters who were named in the will, Ida Williams, Blanche C. Keiler, and Sunshine F. Nahm. Ida Williams was born in 1862, Blanche Keiler in 1866, and Sunshine Nahm in 1869. At the time Friedman’s will was executed on June 25, 1908, and at the time of his death in 1913, his sisters had living children as follows:

(a) Ida was the mother of:
(1) Clarence A. Williams, born in 1879, and
(2) Jerome J. Williams, born in 1886;
(b) Blanche was the mother of:
(1) Leo F. Keiler, bom in 1888, and
(2) Anita Keiler (May), born in 1893, and
(c) Sunshine was the mother of:
(1) EmanieNahm (Phillips), born in 1895.

Louisa Friedman died on February 2, 1922. Ida Williams died on December 15, 1914. Ida was survived by her two children, Jerome J. Williams and Clarence A. Williams. Jerome was still living on the date this case was submitted. Clarence, the decedent in the present case, died on April 29,1968, leaving surviving him his wife, Claribel, and his daughter, Anita Cote. Claribel Williams was the second wife of the decedent and never bore any children by him. Claribel died December 2,1971.

Sunshine Nahm died in 1937, leaving her daughter Emanie Nahm Phillips surviving, who was also living at the date this case was submitted. The third sister of Friedman, Blanche C. Keiler, died on March 9, 1954, being the last sister to die. Blanche was survived by two children, Anita Keiler May and Leo F. Keiler. Leo F. Keiler died in 1958, leaving two children surviving him, Blanche Keiler Prinz-metal and John W. Keiler II. Anita K. May was alive when this case was submitted.

The following genealogical chart (p. 404) shows the relationship of the above-mentioned people to Joseph L. Friedman, their date of birth, and their date of death, if applicable.

On June 6, 1958, John W. Keiler II was appointed as trustee of the last will and testament of Joseph L. Friedman. On July 28,1965, he resigned as trustee of the one-third of the assets that were then being held for the benefit of Sunshine Nahm, her children, and heirs. Citizens Fidelity Bank & Trust Co. of Louisville, Ky., was appointed successor trustee of that one-third portion of the original trust estate. That one-third portion that benefited Sunshine Nahm, her children, and heirs was thereafter and is presently known as the Joseph L. Friedman Trust A. The remaining two-thirds portion of the original trust estate, which was held for the benefit of Ida Williams and Blanche Keiler and their heirs, was subsequently designated the Joseph L. Friedman Trust B. Trust B is the trust with which we are presently concerned. The above division of the trust estate was made pursuant to an order entered by the McCracken County Court in the State of Kentucky. The order provided, in pertinent part:

C. Joseph L. Friedman Tru,st A shall constitute the portion of the original trust estate in which all persons claiming and taking through the deceased sister of the said Joseph L. Friedman, Sunshine F. Nahm, are interested, that is to say, the “heirs” of the said Sunshine F. Nahm, and .said persons shall not have any claim to or interest in Joseph L.

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

Related

Lucia v. Commissioner
1991 T.C. Memo. 77 (U.S. Tax Court, 1991)
Hilton v. Commissioner
1990 T.C. Memo. 379 (U.S. Tax Court, 1990)
Jensen v. Commissioner
1979 T.C. Memo. 379 (U.S. Tax Court, 1979)
Johnson v. Commissioner
72 T.C. 340 (U.S. Tax Court, 1979)
Estate of Williams v. Commissioner
62 T.C. No. 46 (U.S. Tax Court, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
62 T.C. No. 46, 62 T.C. 400, 1974 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-williams-v-commissioner-tax-1974.