Marjorie A. Hall, of the Estate of William G. Hall, State of Tennessee, Intervenor v. United States

DAVID A. NELSON, Circuit Judge.

This is a federal estate tax case that involves a will executed in 1978. The will contained a provision íeaving the testator’s wife an amount equal 1 to the maximum marital deduction allowed by federal law. After the will was signed, the then-existing limits on the marital deduction were removed by the Economic Recovery and Tax Act of 1981 (“ERTA”). The testator died two years later without having changed his will.

Under a “transitional rule” contained in § 403(e)(3) of ERTA, the liberalized marital deduction is not available in a situation such as this unless…