Gesner v. Roberts

The opinion of the court was delivered

This case involves the allocation of the burden of the federal estate tax. After specific devises and bequests to his widow and his two children by a former marriage, the testator directed that the three shall share the residue equally. Those dispositions to the widow qualified for the marital deduction authorized by 26 U. S. C. A. § 2056. The question is whether her share of the residue should be calculated before or after payment of the federal estate tax. The will, which contains no express provision as to taxes, was executed in 1947 and hence before…