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distributed to not more than 10 charitable or educational
institutions, to be selected by the trustee and the County Judge
of Orange County, Florida. The District Court upheld a
charitable deduction under section 2055.
United States v. Leonhardt, supra, is distinguishable from
the case at hand. In Leonhardt, the decedent expressed an intent
to transfer property exclusively to charitable organizations.
The possibility that a charitable contribution would not become
effective was deemed negligible. In the present case, the
trustees had discretion to transfer the property to an individual
or to a noncharitable entity. There was a more than merely
negligible possibility that a charitable transfer would never
occur. The case at hand is more similar to the facts of Estate
of Taylor v. Commissioner, supra, and Paris v. United States,
supra, where the decedent's intentions to memorialize their
relatives could be carried out without the transfer of property
to, or the establishment of, a qualified charitable organization.
In short, we hold that petitioner is not entitled to a
charitable deduction under section 2055, even though the trustees
eventually transferred portions of the decedent's property to a
qualified organization. In light of the wide discretion afforded
to the trustees, it was the trustees rather than the decedent who
made the charitable transfer. Because Messrs. Lanier and Pearce
had the power to set aside decedent's home as a historic site
without making a contribution to a qualifying organization, the
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