Sweeney v. Commissioner

4 T.C. 265, 1944 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 31
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 31, 1944
DocketDocket No. 1955
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 4 T.C. 265 (Sweeney 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
Sweeney v. Commissioner, 4 T.C. 265, 1944 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 31 (tax 1944).

Opinion

Disney, Judge'.

This proceeding involves the redetermination of a deficiency of $51,817.64 in estate tax. The issues are whether the value of the corpus of a trust created in 1933, of which decedent’s daughter was named as grantor, and a trust created by the decedent in 1923, are includible in the decedent’s gross estate. We shall, for the sake of clarity, treat the two trusts separately.

FINDINGS OF FACT AS TO TRUST OF 1933.

Petitioner is the surviving executrix of the estate of her father, George W. Sweeney, who died December 13, 1940. The estate tax return was filed with the collector for the fourteenth district of New York.

On December 17, 1927, the decedent transferred to the Harriman National Bank of the City of New York, in trust, certain securities, with directions to pay the income therefrom to the grantor for life, and upon his death to distribute the corpus to his daughter, Alice S. Mergenthaler, if then 55 years of age; if not, to pay the income to her until she reached 55 years of age and then pay over the corpus. In case Alice S. Mergenthaler predeceased the grantor, without surviving issue, the grantor had the power to name a beneficiary in her place, by a written instrument filed with the trustee or by a provision in his will, and Alice S. Mergenthaler had power, exercisable by her last will, to designate a beneficiary in the place of her issue in the event she died without issue. The grantor and his daughter had power to terminate the trust by their written consent and designate the person to whom the accumulated income and corpus should be delivered.

The grantor and his daughter revoked the trust on July 3, 1933, and pursuant to their direction the property of the trust was delivered to the daughter. The revocation was made on account of the closing of the Harriman National Bank of the City of New York, on March 13, 1933, by order of the Comptroller of the Currency and its inability thereafter to function as trustee of the trust."

On July 3,1933, Alice S. Mergenthaler executed an instrument dated June 30, 1933, transferring to the Fifth Avenue Bank of New York, in trust, the property received under the trust of December 17, 1927, with directions to distribute the income to her father for life. Upon his death the estate was to go to Alice S. Mergenthaler, if 55 or more years of age; otherwise, she was to receive the income until she reached such age and then be entitled to the whole estate. In the event Alice S. Mergenthaler predeceased her father and left issue, upon his death the income was to be paid to her surviving issue and the issue of any deceased, child until George O. Mergenthaler reached 30 years of age, when the estate was to go to the issue of Alice S. Mergenthaler and the issue of any deceased child. In the event Alice S. Mergenthaler died without issue, the decedent had power to name a new beneficiary by a written instrument filed with the trustee or by a provision in his last will. Provision was also made in the instrument for disposition of income and corpus in case the daughter survived her father, but died before attaining the age of 55 years.

The trustee was required to obtain the consent of the father and his daughter to sell or dispose of securities in the trust. During their lifetime, the grantor and her father, acting jointly, could revoke the trust and designate the distribution of the estate.

The estate tax return of the estate of the decedent contained a statement that the trust under the agreement of June 30, 1933, had been treated as a continuation of the trust created by the agreement of December 17,1927, with no change of interest, parties, or assets. The information return of gifts filed by the trustee for 1933 contained a statement prepared by the decedent’s attorney that the second trust was a continuation of the first trust.

OPINION.

The value of the corpus of the trust was included in the gross estate of the decedent by the respondent upon the grounds that the decedent, having furnished the consideration for the creation of the trust, should be regarded as the grantor thereof; that the transfer was intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after death; that he reserved the income for his life; and that he reserved the power to alter, amend, or revoke the trust.

Petitioner contends that, as the first trust could not be terminated without the consent of the grantor’s daughter, the daughter had a substantial interest in the trust, and that her consent to the revocation, of the trust “was sufficient justification on the part of Sweeney for turning the corpus over to her” and, having received the property of the trust by their action pursuant to a provision of the trust deed, there was no defect in her title to the assets which became the corpus of the second trust. No other consideration is relied upon.

There is nothing in the record from which to find that relinquishment of the interest she had in the first trust had any bearing upon the delivery of the corpus to the grantor’s daughter. The trustee was not in a position to continue as such and the right to terminate the trust and dispose of its assets was exercised by the grantor and his daughter to obtain possession of the estate for the purpose of transferring it to another trust in which their interests would be substantially the same as in the old one. Such intention is indicated by the fact that the new trust, with Alice S.-Mergenthaler as the named grantor, was drafted at least three days before the first trust was revoked, and the father was named as life beneficiary of the income of the trust. The father furnished all of the consideration for the first trust and no other property was placed in the second trust at the time of its creation. We do not think the mere fact of necessity that the daughter consent to-the termination of the first trust militates against the fact that the father furnished the trust corpus. The decedent furnished the consideration for the trust and it was not error for the respondent to regard him as the grantor thereof. Lehman v. Commissioner, 109 Fed. (2d) 99; certiorari denied, 310 U. S. 637; Estate of Frederick S. Fish, 45 B. T. A. 120; Purdon Smith Whiteley, 42 B. T. A. 316; Lorenz Iversen, 3 T. C. 756.

The trust deed authorized the decedent and his daughter to revoke the trust by their written consent and to designate the person or persons to whom the estate should be paid. The value of the assets of the trust is, therefore, clearly includible in the gross estate of the decedent under the provisions of section 811 (d) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code.1 Helvering v. City Bank Farmers Trust Co., 296 U. S. 85.

FINDINGS OF FACT AS TO TRUST OF 1923.

On December 31, 1923, George W. Sweeney transferred certain property to the Third National Bank of Springfield, in trust, with directions to pay one-half of the income in equal shares to Annie M. Sweeney, his wife, and his daughter, Alice S. Mergenthaler, for a period of 20 years. The remaining one-half of the income was to be invested by the trustee under the direction of the grantor. The term of the trust was 20 years, upon the expiration of which the estate was to go to the grantor’s wife and daughter, in equal shares, if surviving.

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

Related

Estate of Marshall v. Commissioner
51 T.C. 696 (U.S. Tax Court, 1969)
Sinclaire v. Commissioner
13 T.C. 742 (U.S. Tax Court, 1949)
Sweeney v. Commissioner
4 T.C. 265 (U.S. Tax Court, 1944)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 T.C. 265, 1944 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sweeney-v-commissioner-tax-1944.