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United States v. Allen

293 F.2d 916 (1961)

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United States v. Allen

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
293 F.2d 916 (1961)

Facts

Maria Allen created an irrevocable trust during her life. Allen made herself an income beneficiary entitled to three-fifths of any trust income during her lifetime, with her children as remaindermen. Allen did not wish for the property transferred to the trust to be included in her gross estate when she died. To avoid that inclusion, Allen sold her right to three-fifths of the trust income for her life for its fair actuarial value. Allen was 78 at the time she sold her life estate in the income, and her advanced age caused the actuarial value of the interest to be substantially less than three-fifths of the value of the transferred property. Shortly after selling her income interest, Allen discovered that she was ill and died. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (defendant) determined that Allen’s estate (plaintiff) must include three-fifths of the corpus of the trust in Allen’s gross estate. The estate disagreed. The estate paid the taxes as determined by the IRS and sued for a refund in district court. The district court granted the refund, and the IRS appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Murrah, C.J.)

Concurrence (Breitenstein, J.)

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