Stern v. Commissioner

1992 T.C. Memo. 374, 64 T.C.M. 1, 1992 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 396
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJuly 1, 1992
DocketDocket No. 14176-78
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1992 T.C. Memo. 374 (Stern 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
Stern v. Commissioner, 1992 T.C. Memo. 374, 64 T.C.M. 1, 1992 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 396 (tax 1992).

Opinion

SIDNEY B. & VERA L. STERN, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Stern v. Commissioner
Docket No. 14176-78
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo 1992-374; 1992 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 396; 64 T.C.M. (CCH) 1;
July 1, 1992, Filed

*396 Decision will be entered under Rule 155.

Petitioners transferred stock to two foreign situs trusts in exchange for lifetime private annuities. Held, the stock is not placed in a restricted state such as to secure the private annuity payments, and thereby close the annuity transactions within the meaning of 212 Corp. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 788, 798 (1978) and Estate of Bell v. Commissioner, 60 T.C. 469, 472-473 (1973). Held further, petitioner's control over the trusts and the trustee supports a finding that the private annuities are unsecured.

Randall G. Dick and Jeffrey I. Margolis, for petitioners.
Cynthia K. Husted, for respondent.
PARR

PARR

SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION

PARR, Judge: In our original opinion, Stern v. Commissioner, 77 T.C. 614 (1981), we held that: (1) Transfers of stock by petitioners to two trusts in exchange for private annuities constituted transfers in trust subject to annual payments; (2) petitioners were the real settlors of both trusts; and (3) petitioners were appropriately taxable on the trust's income pursuant to section 677(a) 1 of the grantor trust provisions. The Ninth Circuit*397 Court of Appeals, in a split decision, reversed, holding that the stock transfers were valid sales in exchange for annuities. The court remanded the case for consideration of respondent's alternative argument that, if the stock transfers were valid sales in exchange for annuities, the transactions should be considered "closed" and the resulting gain recognized in the year of sale. Stern v. Commissioner, 747 F.2d 555 (9th Cir. 1984).

The basic facts are as follows. During 1971 and 1972 petitioners transferred Teledyne, Inc. (Teledyne) stock to two foreign situs trusts, the Hylton Trust (created by a Canadian attorney) and the Florcken Trust (created by petitioner Vera Stern's father). Petitioners and their children were the beneficiaries of the Hylton Trust, and petitioner Vera Stern and her children were the beneficiaries of the Florcken Trust. In exchange for the Teledyne*398 stock, the Hylton Trust executed lifetime private annuities in favor of petitioners, and the Florcken Trust executed a lifetime private annuity in favor of petitioner Sidney Stern. 2 The annuities were computed using the fair market value of the Teledyne stock, life expectancy tables, and imputing an interest factor of six percent.

Before the transfers of stock, the Hylton Trust's assets were limited to an original contribution of $ 5,000, and the Florcken Trust's assets were limited to an original contribution of $ 1,000. The annuity agreements provided that both trusts were obligated to pay the annual annuities to petitioners regardless*399 of the value of the trusts' assets or the amount of income produced by the trusts. However, the trusts' liabilities only extended to the trusts' assets. Accordingly, if a trust's assets were exhausted, the trustee was not obligated to make any further payments. The annuity agreements contained both a default acceleration clause and a confession of judgment clause, and granted petitioners the right to assign the annuity payments.

The deeds of settlement with respect to each trust granted broad powers to petitioners. Petitioner Sidney Stern (and upon his death petitioner Vera Stern) possessed a power of appointment over the corpus of the Hylton Trust, and petitioner Vera Stern held a similar power with respect to the Florcken Trust. The powers of appointment were limited to the extent that the power could not be exercised directly or indirectly in favor of the donee, his estate, his creditors, or the creditors of his estate. However, the powers of appointment could presumably be exercised by petitioners in favor of each another. 3

*400 The deeds of settlement provided the trustee with a broad range of powers including the power to: (1) Guarantee petitioners' loans; (2) loan money to petitioners on an interest-free and unsecured basis; (3) pay premiums on petitioners' life insurance policies; and (4) distribute the trusts' corpus or income to petitioners. Petitioner Sidney Stern could dismiss the Hylton Trust's trustee without cause; petitioner Vera Stern held a similar power with respect to the Florcken Trust.

In two instances we have treated private annuity transactions as "closed", thereby resulting in the recognition of gain entirely in the year of sale, Estate of Bell v. Commissioner, 60 T.C. 469 (1973); 212 Corp. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 788 (1978).

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Related

Estate of Bell v. Commissioner
60 T.C. No. 52 (U.S. Tax Court, 1973)
212 Corp. v. Commissioner
70 T.C. 788 (U.S. Tax Court, 1978)
Stern v. Commissioner
77 T.C. 614 (U.S. Tax Court, 1981)
Lloyd v. Commissioner
33 B.T.A. 903 (Board of Tax Appeals, 1936)

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Bluebook (online)
1992 T.C. Memo. 374, 64 T.C.M. 1, 1992 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stern-v-commissioner-tax-1992.