Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Lyne

MORTON, Circuit Judge.

This case presents a question of some importance on the taxation of decedents’ estates. For the purpose of federal taxation such estates are held to include certain property which is not regarded as part of them for probate purposes and is not available for the payment of debts. A common instance of this is insurance on the decedent’s life payable by the terms of the policy directly to a beneficiary. Though not part of the estate, strictly speaking, it is taxed as part of it. The tax is imposed on the net estate; and the net estate is computed under the Revenue Act of…