Estate of Clack v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
106 T.C. 131 (1996)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
Willis Clack’s will stated that Clack expected his executor to (1) give Clack’s widow a lifetime income interest in certain property and (2) claim the marital tax deduction for the property by electing to treat the property as qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) on the estate’s estate-tax return. However, Clack’s will also stated that the executor could choose to transfer the property to a family trust if unforeseen circumstances made the transfer a better move. At Clack’s death, the executor chose to give the lifetime income interest to Clark’s widow and to treat the property as QTIP. The commissioner of Internal Revenue (commissioner) (defendant) determined that the executor had been given a power of appointment over the property that made it ineligible for QTIP treatment even though the executor had appointed the property to Clack’s widow. Clack’s estate (plaintiff) petitioned the United States Tax Court for a determination that the property was eligible for QTIP treatment and deductible.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Wells, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
