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and his assets, and so he would keep careful records of
them, and I was familiar with those records and would
see them.
According to Dale, after Mrs. Chamberlain's death, decedent
became increasingly cautious in the management of his finances:
He got to the point where he would check with me
before he did anything, and he did very little. He
owned stock. He kept stock. He owned bonds. He held
them. * * *
* * * * * * *
He continually became more and more cautious. He
wouldn't do anything without checking with me. He made
very few investment changes.
2. What Assets Were Disclaimed?
Even assuming for the sake of argument that decedent had
disclaimed something, the question of what assets had been
disclaimed would still be unresolved. Rather than resolving this
question, the inconsistencies in the testimony of the witnesses
further convince us that decedent did not disclaim. Each of the
witnesses has testified that decedent intended to disclaim all
the probate assets; yet there is just as much evidence that
decedent had actually intended, in order to maximize the use of
the unified credit, to disclaim much more than just the probate
assets. According to Dale, decedent "had planned to disclaim the
amount that would absolutely minimize taxes down to the last
dollar." A basic step in any effort to minimize estate taxes is
the use of the unified credits of each spouse, which allow
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