- 10 - tax was to be paid out of the residue of the estate including the marital trust property. Id. at 214. Decedent's will expressly provided: "Such payment [of estate tax] shall be made * * * without apportionment and without contribution * * * from anyone". By including an express provision regarding apportionment, decedent entirely negated application of the general apportionment provisions of the Texas statute with respect to the residuary. Tex. Prob. Code Ann. sec. 322A(b)(2). By directing that there be no apportionment within the residuary, decedent expressed an intention that there be no discrimination between marital and nonmarital residual beneficiaries. Thus, the estate tax liability reduces the amount of the residuary available for distribution to Mr. Miller and to the trust. In Estate of Fine v. Commissioner, supra, the Court interpreted a Virginia apportionment statute that is comparable to the statute in Texas. In Estate of Fine, the decedent left one-half of his residuary estate to his wife and the other half to other beneficiaries. The will also directed that estate and inheritance taxes be paid out of the residuary "without apportionment". Notwithstanding the likelihood that the "decedent hoped to leave his wife in the best possible position, which would be achieved by maximizing the marital deduction, the plain language of the will * * * [did] not permit that result."Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011