- 13 -
decedent was afflicted with an incurable physical condition that
was in such an advanced stage that death was clearly imminent.
We recognize that Rev. Rul. 80-80, supra, states that death
is not clearly imminent if the individual may survive for a year
or more and if such a possibility is not so remote as to be
negligible. Dr. Freireich (petitioner's expert) declined to
offer an opinion as to decedent's actual life expectancy as of
March 5, 1986. On the other hand, Dr. Fleischman (respondent's
expert) stated that, from a statistical standpoint, the
likelihood that decedent would live another year was 10 percent
or less. Considering all of the facts and circumstances, we find
that although decedent's life expectancy may have been as long as
1 year as of March 5, 1986, decedent's continuing deterioration
at that time demonstrates that the possibility of decedent's
survival for a year or more was so remote as to be negligible.
A final point of clarification is necessary. While we
indeed held decedent's actual life expectancy as of March 5,
1986, to be 1 year, that statement was not so much intended to
serve as this Court's “Solomon-like” declaration of the precise
number of days decedent would survive, but rather was intended to
give petitioner the benefit of the doubt so far as a
determination of actual life expectancy was necessary in order
for the parties to complete the computations required for entry
of decision in this case. See Rule 155. Consistent with Dr.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011