In re Estate of Roberts

R.C. 5731.09(A) exempts from estate tax the value of an annuity (or similar payment to a surviving beneficiary) attributable to contributions by a decedent’s former employer to an employee’s trust or fund. This case asks whether the exemption applies even when the decedent has transferred funds from an employee retirement account to an individual retirement account (“IRA”) to which the employer has not directly contributed. For the reasons that follow, we find that it does not.

I

In February 1993, Robert Lawrence Roberts retired from his employment with Pioneer Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.…