- 38 - enough to show it to Mr. Meyer, decedent's longtime acquaintance and a trusted adviser. Mr. Meyer was in frequent contact with decedent after Mrs. Chamberlain's death; yet, at trial, Mr. Meyer had no specific recollection of speaking with decedent about Exhibit 5-E. If decedent intended to disclaim using Exhibit 5-E, why did he total the values of the assets listed on Exhibit 5-E to determine his gross assets but not reduce those totals by the values of the assets that he intended to disclaim? We think that decedent intended Exhibit 5-E to serve: (1) As the "list of all assets * * * & how they are held", that Mr. Kadish referred to in his response to Mr. Meyer on Exhibit 4-D that they needed to prepare Form 706 for Mrs. Chamberlain's estate and to plan decedent's disclaimer, and (2) as a worksheet that enabled decedent to track his gross assets and determine when he would be receiving interest and dividend payments. This explains why decedent began preparing Exhibit 5-E after meeting with Mr. Meyer and organized the listing of assets according to the dates that interest and dividend payments would be made, rather than grouping the assets according to their source; i.e., "J", "JT", "T". Our conclusion is also supported by testimony about decedent's personality, by Mr. Meyer, who had known decedent for many years, as well as by Dale: [Decedent] was very methodical. He was an engineer. He took very careful care of his finances. He took pride in his ability to maintain control over his lifePage: Previous 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Next
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