Estate of Andrew P. Carter, Through Its Dative Testamentary Eugene G. Taggert, Etc. v. United States

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

In this case, we must determine how to value, for purposes of the estate tax credit available under 26 U.S.C. § 2013, a usu-fruct 1 transferred between persons killed in a common disaster. The taxpayer asserts that the usufruct should be valued in accordance with actuarial tables reflecting the expected lifespan of the transferee. Emphasizing the imminence of the transferee’s death at the time he received the usufruct, the government contends that the property interest was worthless. We conclude that a usufruct passed between persons dying in a common disaster…