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1. Petitioner's Intent to Disclaim
According to petitioner, "everyone agrees that Mr.
Chamberlain [decedent] intended to disclaim." Petitioner
apparently believes that the mere showing of intent, without any
actions on the part of the decedent in furtherance of his intent,
is sufficient for a showing of substantial compliance. We
disagree. See Tipps v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 458 (1980);
Dunavant v. Commissioner , supra; Taylor v. Commissioner, 67 T.C.
1071 (1977); Valdes v. Commissioner, supra. Even if decedent
told Dale and Mr. Meyer that he intended or wished to or did
disclaim the assets marked J, or the assets solely owned by Mrs.
Chamberlain at her date of death, an oral statement to any of
those effects would not and does not satisfy the requirement that
the refusal be in writing. See sec. 2518(b).
At trial, Dale testified that decedent had discussed
disclaiming the probate assets with him for a long time and that
decedent planned to disclaim "the amount that would absolutely
minimize taxes down to the last dollar." No part of Dale's
testimony, however, concerned his actual knowledge of a
disclaimer. Dale never witnessed the decedent take any actions
to disclaim, and there is no indication that decedent ever told
Dale that he had done something that he intended to be legally
operative as a disclaimer. Dale could not remember asking
decedent whether he was going to have a specific disclaimer
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