Estate of Stewart v. Commissioner

The majority concedes that the Tax Court properly concluded in this case that an implied agreement existed between the decedent, Margot Stewart, and her adult son, Brandon, that despite the transfer of a 49% share in her five-story Manhattan brownstone to Brandon during her lifetime, Margot Stewart would retain possession or enjoyment of at least some portion of this 49%, so that its value should be included in her gross estate. It would have been difficult for the majority to have done otherwise. The burden rested with Margot Stewart’s estate to disprove the existence of such an agreement,…