Gray v. Director, Division of Taxation

28 N.J. Tax 28
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedMay 5, 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 28 N.J. Tax 28 (Gray v. Director, Division of Taxation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gray v. Director, Division of Taxation, 28 N.J. Tax 28 (N.J. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

ANDRESINI, J.T.C.

This is the court’s opinion with respect to the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. Andrew Gray, III, Executor for the Estate of Beatrice Jochman (“Plaintiff’) contends that the inheritance tax for Ms. Joehman’s estate should not be based on the inclusion of the values of the Beatrice Jochman Unitrust and the Beatrice Jochman Residence Trust. The Director, Division of Taxation (“Director”) contends that the transfers were made in contemplation of death and are therefore subject to the inheritance tax. For the reasons set forth below, the court grants plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and, consequently, denies defendant’s cross-motion for same.

Facts

Decedent created two irrevocable trusts. The first was a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (“QPRT”), and the second was a Grantor Retained Unitrust (“GRUT”) (reference to both trusts hereinafter is “Jochman Trusts”). The Jochman Trusts each had [32]*32a fixed six-year term which expired during the life of decedent. The Director included the Joehman Trusts’ respective values as part of decedent’s estate when making an assessment of inheritance taxes.

In the Spring of 2004, Beatrice Joehman (“Decedent”) consulted with her attorney for estate planning purposes. She was then aged 85, and her estate was estimated to be in excess of $4 million. Decedent’s attorney recommended establishing irrevocable trusts to minimize state and federal tax burdens on the estate.

In 1996, decedent underwent surgery to repair her mitral valve as part of treatment for congestive heart failure. The valve was repaired again in 2004. Medical records from September 22, 2004 indicate she remained under her doctor’s care on a treatment of daily Lasix for “[Controlled congestive failure[.]” Decedent’s attorney certified discussing the need to establish trusts with terms that expire before she died in order to achieve the desired tax benefits. At that time, actuarial tables indicated decedent would live in excess of six years.1

On September 24, 2004, decedent established two trusts each with a term of six years expiring in September of 2010. The Beatrice Joehman Unitrust, a GRUT, was funded with $1 million. The GRUT provided for decedent to receive an annual amount equal to six percent of the fair market value of the corpus throughout the six-year term. Upon expiration of the trust period, the corpus and accrued income was to be distributed in accordance with the trust document to decedent’s siblings’ children.

On the same date, the title to decedent’s residence located at 282 Cedar Lane in River Vale, New Jersey was transferred to a second QPRT. The third clause of the QPRT reserved the right to [33]*33use and occupy the residence for the grantor, Ms. Jochman, for the trust period. Subsequent to the expiration, the grantor was given an option to rent the property from the trustee at fair market value for a period not exceeding fifteen years. In spite of the option, the River Vale residence was put up for sale upon expiration of the six-year term, was sold in 2011, and closed in early 2012. However, at the motion hearing, it was indicated and undisputed that decedent continued to live in the residence until her death.

Jochman died on August 24, 2011 which was exactly eleven months after the Jochman Trusts expired. During the audit of decedent’s inheritance tax return, the Director established the position that the life expectancy tables it utilized indicated that decedent could only be expected to live 5.31 years upon creation of the trusts. For that reason, both Jochman Trusts were included as part of decedent’s estate pursuant to N.J.A.C. 18:26-5.8 and assessed accordingly. However, in papers and during oral argument this position regarding actuarial timetables was abandoned in favor of reliance on the authorities discussed below.

Conclusions of Law

“The New Jersey Transfer Inheritance Tax, N.J.S.A. 54:33-1 et seq. ... is a privilege levy upon the right of succession to real and personal property transferred by a decedent in specified cases.” Gould v. Director, Div. of Taxation, 2 N.J.Tax 316, 319-320 (Tax 1981). The present matter concerns the Director’s decision to include the value of the Jochman Trusts in decedent’s estate. Specifically, the court is concerned whether the Director’s determination was proper under N.J.S.A. 54:34-1(e) or N.J.S.A. 54:34-1.1 which govern taxability of a decedent’s inter vivos transfers. At stake is the resulting tax levy “upon the transferee, and the amount thereof depends upon the value of the property transferred and the transferee’s relationship to decedent.” Gould, supra, 2 N.J.Tax at 320.

N.J.S.A. 54:33-1, et seq. imposes a tax “upon the transfer of property, real or personal, of the value of $500.00 or over, or of any interest therein or income therefrom, in trust or otherwise, to [34]*34or for the use of any transferee, distributee or beneficiary” under certain scenarios. Id. In pertinent part, the Act will impose tax where real, tangible, or intangible property, “is transferred by deed, grant, bargain, sale or gift [1] made in contemplation of the death of the grantor, vendor or donor, or [2] intended to take effect ... at or after such death.” N.J.S.A. 54:34-1(c)(emphasis added). Thus, this court could find decedent’s gratuitous transfer of property in trust is subject to taxation after fact sensitive analyses of the two distinct bases for taxation under the Act.

Note that with regard to transfers made in contemplation of death, the second paragraph of N.J.S.A. 54:34-1(c) creates a statutory presumption.

A transfer ... made without adequate valuable consideration and within three years prior to the death of the grantor ... of a material part of his estate or in the nature of a final disposition or distribution thereof, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to have been made in contemplation of death within the meaning of subsection c. of this section; but no such transfer made prior to such three-year period shall be deemed or held to have been made in contemplation of death.
[N.J.S.A. 54:34-1(c).]

Separately, N.J.S.A. 54:34-1.1 places an additional qualifier on the aforementioned ‘intended to take effect at or after death’ basis for taxation.2

A transfer of property ... wherein the transferor is entitled to some income, right, interest or power, either expressly or by operation of law, shall not be deemed a transfer intended to take effect at or after transferor’s death if the transferor, more than 3 years prior to death, shall have executed an irrevocable and complete disposition of all reserved income, rights, interests and powers in and over the property transferred.
[Id.]

Presumptive Validity of Director’s Determination

The Director contends the decision to include the Jochman Trusts’ value in decedent’s estate is presumptively valid, and summary judgment should be granted in defendant’s favor. Accordingly, the court elects to decide whether the Director’s deter[35]*35mination is entitled to a presumption of correctness first, because such finding will ultimately impact the summary judgment analysis.

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28 N.J. Tax 28, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gray-v-director-division-of-taxation-njtaxct-2014.