Estate of Johnson v. Commissioner

OPINION.

Kern, Judge:

The sole question is whether the value of the transfers of March 3,1939, should be included in the gross estate of the decedent according to the provisions of section 811 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code.1

The ultimate question to be decided in this case, as in others arising under the quoted statute, is whether the dominant or impelling motive of decedent in making these transfers was associated with death and was prompted by the thought of death.

This question is a subjective one. It concerns the motives and mental processes of a particular human being, in this case one…