Uihlein v. Uihlein

59 N.W.2d 641, 264 Wis. 362, 38 A.L.R. 2d 961, 1953 Wisc. LEXIS 546
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 3, 1953
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 59 N.W.2d 641 (Uihlein v. Uihlein) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Uihlein v. Uihlein, 59 N.W.2d 641, 264 Wis. 362, 38 A.L.R. 2d 961, 1953 Wisc. LEXIS 546 (Wis. 1953).

Opinion

Currie, J.

These appeals raise the following issues:

(1) Is the widow who has elected to take her one-third share of the estate, pursuant to sec. 233.14, Stats., entitled to such share without deduction therefrom of any portion of the- federal estate tax?

(2) Does the widow’s election to take under the law extinguish the special power given to the widow under the will to appoint the residue of the estate upon her death among the nieces and nephews of the deceased, their descendants, and certain charities?

(3) Does the widow’s election to take under the law have the same effect as her death and thereby accelerate the distribution of the remaining estate to the persons named as takers, in default of the exercise of the power of appointment, in the proportions provided in the testator’s will?

[369]*369(4) Inasmuch as the testator failed to dispose of one tenth of the residue of the estate (less $10,000), how is such one tenth (less $10,000) to be assigned in making final distribution of the estate ?

(5) Is the widow, who has elected to take under the law, in addition to receiving her homestead rights in the homestead and one third of the personal estate, also entitled as sole heir at law and next of kin of the decedent to share in any intestate property of the deceased ?

Impact of Federal Estate Tax

While technically the “gross estate” of the deceased is all of the assets before any deduction for administration expenses, debts, allowances for support, and federal estate tax, we will, for' purposes of simplicity of nomenclature in this opinion, designate that part of the total estate remaining after deduction of expenses, debts, and allowances as the “gross estate;” while the term “net estate” will be used to refer to that part of the estate which remains after deduction of the federal estate tax, as well as expenses, debts, and allowances.

The impact of the federal estate tax directly affects the amounts distributable to the widow and other beneficiaries. The trial court determined that the widow’s share of the personal estate which she is to receive, by reason of her election to take under the law and not under the will, is one third of the gross estate. The result of this is that none of the impact of the federal estate tax falls upon the widow’s share of the personal estate. On the other hand, the guardian ad litem and counsel for beneficiaries other than the widow contend that the widow’s share of the personal estate should be determined upon the net estate and not the gross estate.

The difference in result of computing the widow’s share of the personal estate under each of these two methods is well illustrated by the following table:

[370]*370Widow’s share Widow’s share determined on net-estate basis determined on gross-estate basis

Gross estate. $7,078,600 $7,078,600

Debts, expenses, family allowance . 265,000 265,000

Adjusted gross estate. 6,813,600 6.813.600

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Bluebook (online)
59 N.W.2d 641, 264 Wis. 362, 38 A.L.R. 2d 961, 1953 Wisc. LEXIS 546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/uihlein-v-uihlein-wis-1953.