Frank v. Frank

If the power of testamentary appointment given by the will of Henry S. Frank to his wife Ruth authorized her to appoint to her estate so as to come within the marital deduction provisions of the federal estate tax laws, the federal government will not receive some seventy-five thousand dollars in additional estate taxes it claims to be due; if it did not authorize appointment to her estate, the estate will be that much poorer and the government that much richer.

The widow filed a bill against those who would take in the absence of appointment for a declaration as to the' nature and scope of…