United States v. Mabel Davis James

DUNIWAY, Circuit Judge:

The government asks us to overrule our decision in Buck v. McLaughlin, 9 Cir., 1931, 48 F.2d 135. An alternative ground of decision in that case was that a widow’s allowance paid to her out of her husband’s estate under court order, pursuant to California law, is not “income” within the meaning of Amendment XVI to the Constitution. The questions presented by this case are narrower. Here, the widow’s allowance was ordered in an Arizona estate, and was expressly made payable out of the income of the estate. The estate had income ample to cover the payments ordered, and…