Estate of Semo A. Sulovich, Deceased, Helen Unkovich v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

PHILLIPS, Chief Judge.

The issue on this appeal is whether the decedent, at his death, possessed sufficient powers over certain savings accounts to require the sums in those accounts to be included in his gross estate under Sections 2036 and 2038 of the Internal Revenue Code. 1 The decedent, Semo A. Sulovich, a Yugoslavian immigrant, was the co-owner and operator of a restaurant in downtown Dallas for approximately thirty years. At his death, most of Sulovich’s assets were held in accounts at various Dallas banks. Some of those accounts he held jointly with his niece, Helen Unkovich. Certain…