Estate of Council v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
Decedent was the beneficiary of a marital deduction trust established by her husband's will. Under that trust decedent was to receive the income for life and had a testamentary power of appointment over such assets as remained in the trust at her death. Pursuant to a discretionary power to use trust principal to meet decedent's reasonable needs the trustees made several distributions of trust principal during decedent's life.
Read the full summary
Decedent was the beneficiary of a marital deduction trust established by her husband's will. Under that trust decedent was to receive the income for life and had a testamentary power of appointment over such assets as remained in the trust at her death. Pursuant to a discretionary power to use trust principal to meet decedent's reasonable needs the trustees made several distributions of trust principal during decedent's life. Held, the value of the assets distributed from the trust during decedent's life is not includable in decedent's gross estate under sec. 2041, I.R.C. 1954.
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION
The issue in this case is whether decedent possessed at her •death, a general power of appointment over the cash and stock which had been disbursed from the principal of the marital deduction trust some years prior to her death. If we determine that decedent did possess at her death a general power of appointment over the cash and stock, their date of death values are includable in decedent’s gross estate under section 2041. Respondent has conceded that a credit should be allowed, under section 2012, for the Federal gift tax paid with respect to the prior transfer of the stock, if the…
2Cases cited21 opinions
- Blair v. CommissionerSupreme Court of the United States · 1937
- Morgan v. CommissionerSupreme Court of the United States · 1940
- Helvering v. StuartSupreme Court of the United States · 1942
- Woodard v. MordecaiSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1951
- Heyer v. BulluckSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1936
16 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by5 opinions
- Estate of Craft v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1977
- Estate of Council v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1975
- Estate of Craft v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1977
- Estate of Halpern v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1995
- Estate of Hartzell v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1994