Estate of Kohlsaat
United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo. 1997-212 (1997)
- Written by Mary Pfotenhauer, JD
Facts
Lieselotte Kohlsaat created an irrevocable trust (the Estate), and transferred a commercial building into the trust. The trust designated Lieselotte’s two adult children as the two primary beneficiaries and sixteen of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as contingent remainder beneficiaries. The trust gave the beneficiaries the right to demand an immediate distribution from the trust property during a 30-day period, up to the $10,000 annual gift tax exclusion amount for each beneficiary. The beneficiaries were notified of their rights to demand distributions. None of the beneficiaries exercised their right to demand a distribution. The petitioner, executor of the Estate, treated the interests of the sixteen contingent beneficiaries as qualifying for sixteen annual gift tax exclusions. The respondent, the Internal Revenue Service, denied the claimed annual gift tax exclusions, finding that the contingent beneficiaries did not have present interests in the trust.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Swift, J.)
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