Estate of Theodore J. Chamberlain - Page 38




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          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 life                 





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