Estate of Marine v. Commissioner

David Marine executed a will under which a number of small bequests were to be made to individuals and the remainder was divided equally between Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University. A year later, Marine completed a codicil under which his personal representatives were empowered to compensate individuals who had contributed to Marine’s wellbeing or had been helpful to him during his life. The representatives could pass along as much property as the representatives found fair under the circumstances, with no individual bequest to exceed 1 percent of Marine’s gross probate estate. No limit was placed on the number of people the personal representatives could choose to compensate. After Marine died, his personal representatives distributed $15,000 to one person and $10,000 to another. The Marine estate (plaintiff) filed an estate-tax return reporting a gross estate of roughly $2.6 million and a deduction of the roughly $2.1 million bequeathed to Princeton and Johns Hopkins. There was no question about the status of the universities as tax-exempt organizations. However, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (the commissioner) (defendant) argued that because the personal representatives could distribute an unlimited amount, the amount of the charitable bequest was unascertainable, and therefore the claimed charitable deduction was disallowed. The relevant test was whether the amount passing to a charity was ascertainable at the date of the decedent’s death. The tax court found for the commissioner, and the estate appealed.