Kirkwood v. Commissioner

23 B.T.A. 955, 1931 BTA LEXIS 1790
CourtUnited States Board of Tax Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 1931
DocketDocket No. 40845.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 23 B.T.A. 955 (Kirkwood v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Board of Tax Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kirkwood v. Commissioner, 23 B.T.A. 955, 1931 BTA LEXIS 1790 (bta 1931).

Opinion

[963]*963OPINION.

Morris:

The first issue presented by the pleadings is whether the $105,000 trust fund established under the will of Laura Kelson Kirk-wood constitutes an allowable deduction from her gross estate, The [964]*964deductibility of this trust fund depends upon the interpretation of section 303 (a) (3) of the Revenue Act of 1926, which provides as follows:

Seo. 303. For the purpose of the tax the value of the net estate shall be determined—
(a) In the case of a resident, by deducting from the value of the gross estate—
*******
(3) The amount of all bequests, legacies, devises, or transfers, to or for the use of the United States, any State, Territory, any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, for exclusively public purposes, or to or for the use of any corporation organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, including the encouragement of art and the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private stockholder or individual, or to a trustee or trustees, or a fraternal society, order or association operating under the lodge system, but only if such contributions or gifts are to be used by such trustee or trustees, or by such fraternal society, order, or association, exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. The amount of the deduction under this paragraph for any transfer shall not exceed the value of the transferred property required to be included in the gross estate. [Italics supplied.]

By Item YII of her will Laura Nelson Kirkwood devised in continued trust to named trustees the Nelson Memorial Chapel in Mount Washington Cemetery and the sum of $105,000 for the upkeep and maintenance of the chapel and grounds. Since the devise was to trustees it would appear that petitioner should be governed by that portion of the above quoted section which refers to bequests, legacies, devises, or transfers “to a trustee or trustees.” Petitioner, however, contends that, because of William Rockhill Nelson’s charities and the esteem in which he was held by his fellow men, his place of burial is a sort of shrine where the public pays homage to his memory. It is asserted that the shrines of great men are a moral inspiration to the people as a whole, that they are of great literary and educational value; therefore, the petitioner argues that since this chapel is for the use of the people of the State as a whole, it is for the use of the State, because in a broad sense the people of the State constitute the body politic, and that since this bequest was for the use of the State, it is deductible under section 303 (a) (3) of the 1926 Act.

The weakness of this argument lies in the fact that the trust fund was created for purely personal reasons, namely, the care and maintenance of the last resting place of the decedent and her immediate family. The State, nor indeed the people therein, had no interest in the trust fund, nor did it or they have any voice in or control [965]*965over the chapel or the activities of the trustees. The public visited the chapel, and even though such visits were encouraged, we are satisfied that the trustees, in the exercise of their discretion, could have excluded the public therefrom at any time. We can not agree with the petitioner’s contention, therefore, that the chapel was maintained under the trust, exclusively for public purposes; rather, we believe that it was the personal wishes of the decedent which were being carried out by the trustees. If in the course of performing the duties imposed by the trust instrument, the public was directly or indirectly benefited, we can not see how this benefit in any way changed the character of the trust or the uses for which it was created. It is our opinion, therefore, that the $105,000 trust fund is not a proper deduction within the meaning of section 303 (a) (3) of the Revenue Act of 1926.

Petitioner cites in support of his contention the decision of the court in Loeb v. McCaughn, 20 Fed. (2d) 1002, wherein it was held that the cost of a mausoleum was deductible from the decedent’s gross estate. In that case the deduction was allowed upon the ground that the cost of the mausoleum was a part of the “ reasonable interment expenses.” Ho such question is raised in the present proceeding and the cases are, therefore, distinguishable.

The decedent by item nine of her will gave her residuary estate to her husband in trust, and at the same time made him the sole beneficiary of the income from the trust estate. She provided that upon the death of her husband the remainder of the trust estate should vest in three designated trustees who were to use the trust estate to provide a site for or construct a building in Kansas City, Mo., to bear the name of William Rockhill Kelson followed by the words “ Gallery of Art,” which said building was to be used to house and care for works of the fine arts which were to be purchased under the last will and testament of her father. The trustees were to use any excess of the trust fund for the purchase of additional works of the fine arts. Her husband, as trustee, was given full power and authority during his lifetime to use any and all of the trust estate for the same purposes. Concededly, under the provisions of decedent’s will her husband received a life tenancy in her residuary estate, and we are satisfied that the remainder of the residuary estate after his death was given in trust for “ charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes.”

This brings us to the second issue, namely, whether respondent erred in using the factor .55065 to determine the value of Irwin R. Kirkwood’s interest in the estate of his wife, when the facts show that he died within one year, six months, and two days of the decedent. In other words, we are asked to hold that Kirkwood’s [966]*966actual life should control the valuation of his life estate, rather than his estimated life as shown by well known tables of mortality.

In our opinion a lengthy discussion of this issue would serve no useful purpose, in view of the opinion of Mr. Justice Holmes in Ithaca Trust Co. v. United States, 279 U. S. 151. In that case one Edwin C. Stewart died testate appointing his wife and the Ithaca Trust Company, executors, and the Ithaca Trust Company, trustee, of the trust created by his will. He gave the residue of his estate to his wife for life, and after her death there were bequests in trust for admitted charities. The wife died six months after the decedent. The opinion of Mr. Justice Holmes in part is as follows:

⅜ * * The question is wlietlier the amount of the diminution, that is, the length of the postponement, is to be determined by the event as it turned out, of the widow’s death within six months, or by mortality tables showing the probabilities as they stood on the day when the testator died. The first impression is that it is absurd to resort to statistical probabilities when you know the fact. But this is due to inaccurate thinking. The estate so far as may be is settled as of the date of the testator’s death. See Hooper v. Bradford, 178 Mass. 95, 97.

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Related

Kirkwood v. Commissioner
23 B.T.A. 955 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 B.T.A. 955, 1931 BTA LEXIS 1790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kirkwood-v-commissioner-bta-1931.