- 2 - Catherine E. Dowell (sometimes referred to as decedent or mother) owned 75 percent of the stock of Dowell Insurance Agency, Inc. (the stock or agency stock; the agency), at the time of her death. Decedent had previously sold 25 percent of the agency stock to her daughter, Patricia Low (sometimes referred to as daughter), and was receiving monthly installment payments from the sale. The obligation to make the installment payments1 (the debt) was forgiven by decedent on her deathbed. Decedent's Last Will and Testament (the will) bequeathed her remaining stock to her daughter "with the understanding" that she would make monthly payments of $5,000 to decedent's son for 10 years. A codicil to decedent's will stated that monthly payments were to be made by the daughter to decedent's husband instead. After her mother's death, Patricia Low never made any of the monthly payments. Decedent's husband was the residuary beneficiary under decedent's will. Petitioner, decedent's estate, computed the sum of the monthly payments called for in the codicil to be $450,000, and claimed that amount as a marital deduction on its Federal estate tax return. After concessions, the issues for decision are: (1) Whether decedent's husband inherited her agency stock on the failure of the daughter to make the payments called for in the codicil; if decedent's husband did not inherit the agency stock, 1 The record does not show that an installment note was entered into by the daughter.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011