Home Oil Mill v. Willingham

68 F. Supp. 525, 35 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 480, 1945 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1510
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedJuly 26, 1945
DocketCiv. A. 5669
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 68 F. Supp. 525 (Home Oil Mill v. Willingham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Home Oil Mill v. Willingham, 68 F. Supp. 525, 35 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 480, 1945 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1510 (N.D. Ala. 1945).

Opinion

LYNNE, District Judge.

This cause coming on for trial on July 18, 1946, without the intervention of a jury, and the Court having heard and considered the evidence and exhibits introduced and the stipulations of the parties, and having read and considered the briefs filed by the respective parties, and being fully advised in the premises, does make and enter the following findings of fact, conclusions of law, and judgment:

Findings of Fact

1. The Home Oil Mill, on its earnings for the tax year commencing August 1, 1941, and ending July 31, 1942, paid income tax to Henry J. Willingham, Collector of Internal Revenue for the District of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, in the sum of $21,737.80, and on November 5, 1943, the plaintiffs timely filed a properly executed cl: 'm for refund, together with supporting exhibits. The refund was not made by the Commissioner, and the plaintiffs filed this suit to recover such taxes within the time provided by law.

2. W. R. Spight died testate September 2, 1936, at the age of 74 years, leaving an estate exceeding in worth $1,000,000, and consisting principally of an oil mill (the taxpayer here), wholesale grocery, two apartment buildings, a hotel, large real estate holdings, considerable cash, stocks, notes and bonds, and disposed of by him in a last will and testament executed August 15, 1936, which was duly admitted to probate and record September 9, 1936, in the Probate Court of Morgan County, Alabama, of which county and state he was a resident for many years prior to his death.

3. Mr. Spight was a devout, faithful and loyal member of the Baptist Church, and an ardent believer in and liberal contributor to the work and support of foreign missionaries.

4. He and his sister, Mrs. Burr, lived together for many years in his home, and were of the same religious faith and belief, and for years it had been his practice and custom to talk over and discuss with her his business and plans of disposition of his estate, and the several provisions of his will were fully discussed with his sister, and instructions and directions given to her by Mr. Spight in its due execution by her as Executrix and Chairman of the Trustees.

5. Mr. Spight was a widower and left surviving him as his sole next of kin his sister, Mrs; Burr, present age 73.

6. His will was executed 15 days before his death. Under his will he provided for payment of his debts; made a bequest of $25,000 cash to his sister, Mrs. Burr, and devised to her a life interest in his home. He gave $10,000 to the Benevolent Society Hospital, and $20,000 to the Central Baptist Church at Decatur. He created a trust to be known as the “W. R. Spight Religious and Charitable Trust,” and named Mrs. Burr, Mr. Green and Mr. Johnson as the Trustees of this trust, and to these Trustees he gave, willed, devised and bequeathed all of his residuary estate for *527 eight admitted religious, educational, charitable or eleemosynary institutions, the devise and bequest to these institutions being in percentages and payable as fixed by him in his will, with provision that if any of the institutions were incapable of receiving same under the will, it was to be given and willed to the others named in the proportions and percentages fixed.

7. The Trustees were fully authorized and empowered to operate and carry on all of his businesses and to make distributions to the eight beneficiaries in partial payments. Mrs. Burr was nominated and appointed as Chairman of the trust to serve and act as such during the existence of the trust, and to be in charge and control of the several businesses, and for such services she was to be paid from the earnings of the trust, an annual salary of $15,000, as long as she lived and the trust continued in existence, and should she call upon the other Trustees to actively assist in the conduct of the businesses and affairs of the trust, the amount of compensation to all of the Trustees should not exceed $15,000 a year. This salary was to be paid from the annual earnings, profits, interest and dividends of the trust property, but in the event these were insufficient, then a sufficient amount ■could be taken from the corpus of the trust estate to make up the deficiency.

8. Mrs. Burr was named as the Executrix, without bond, and duly executed the will through the Probate and Circuit Courts of Morgan County, Alabama, to a final settlement of her executorship in October, 1940. Pursuant to the provisions of the will, the trust estate was recognized and adjudged and declared to exist by the Circuit Court of Morgan County, Alabama, in Equity, by decree of that court rendered October 12, 1940, to be administered in said court by Mrs. Burr and Mr. Green and Mr. Johnson, and successors, as Trustees of the ■“W. R. Spight Religious and Charitable Trust.”

9. On final settlement by the Executrix and under decree and order of the court, all residuary properties, real, personal, mixed and choses in action were decreed to belong to Mrs. Burr and Mr. Green & Mr. Johnson, as Trustees of the ■“W. R. Spight Religious and -Charitable Trust,” for the eight religious, charitable, educational and eleemosynary institutions named in the will and for the purposes therein fixed, and due and proper conveyance, transfer, assignment and deed of said properties was made by the Executrix to the Trustees, etc.

10. During the administration of the estate, the Executrix paid to the eight beneficiaries $120,000, and on final settlement conveyed and delivered to the Trustees an estate which, after deduction of the several specific bequests, costs and administration expenses, etc., was, by reason of earnings during administration, of a net value about equal to its value at the time the estate first came into existence.

11. Among the properties transferred, assigned and delivered to the Trustees in October, 1940, were 300 shares of stock of the Home Oil Mill, a corporation, par value $100 per share, being all of the outstanding stock of said corporation, and having a total book value at that time of $252,451, this being approximately 25% of the net worth of the properties coming into the trust estate.

12. The Trustees, after due consideration, legally amended, changed and altered the charter of the Home Oil' Mill, July 25, 1941, and wrote into its new charter the tax exemption provisions of Title 26, Section 101, Subsection (6), U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Code, and certain special provisions, all as authorized by the Statutes of Alabama, and fixed the capital stock at $30,000, represented by 300 shares of common stock of the par value of $100 per share. Certificates for one qualifying share each were issued to the five directors of the reorganized corporation, each of whom was nominated as an acting or successor to an acting trustee under the testator’s will. A certificate for the remaining 295 shares was issued to the trustees of the “W. R. Spight Religious and Charitable Trust.” The certificates issued for said qualifying shares were assigned to the Trustees.

13. The charter of the Home Oil Mill includes the following provisions:

(a) It positively limits and restricts the holding and ownership of stock in the corporation for the exclusive purpose of pro *528

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Bluebook (online)
68 F. Supp. 525, 35 A.F.T.R. (P-H) 480, 1945 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/home-oil-mill-v-willingham-alnd-1945.