Brownstone v. United States

HALL, Circuit Judge.

The trustee of a testamentary trust appeals from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Rakoff, J.). The district court granted summary judgment to *527Defendant United States on the trustee’s challenge to a denial of a tax refund.

We affirm.

I. Background

Lucien Brownstone was a successful man during his life, and in his will he created a trust for the benefit of his wife Ethel1. This trust (the “Trust”), created under Article Seventh of Lucien’s will, received as its principal an amount equal to the maximum federal estate tax…