Estate of Lamson v. United States

This suit is by plaintiff, the Estate of Harry Henderson Lamson, Sr., to recover $4,500 in estate taxes, plus interest,, paid in connection with the estate tax return filed by plaintiff on May 9, 1957.

The only question presented by this case is whether a bequest to decedent’s son constitutes a deductible charitable transfer for Federal estate tax purposes, where the decedent knew at the time he executed his will that his son, a priest, was bound by a religious vow requiring absolute poverty and the transfer of any inheritance he might receive to his religious order. The statute involved is 26…