115 T.C. No. 13
UNITED STATES TAX COURT
ESTATE OF JUDITH U. HARRISON, DECEASED, RICHARD J. TEJEDA,
EXECUTOR, AND ESTATE OF KENNETH R. HARRISON, DECEASED, RICHARD J.
TEJEDA, EXECUTOR, Petitioners v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
Docket No. 16018-98. Filed August 22, 2000.
H and W boarded their private aircraft in July of
1993 but never arrived at their destination.
Subsequently, probate orders were entered presuming
identical April 1, 1994, dates of death and finding it
more probable than not that the airplane crashed en
route. The will of each spouse presumed survival by
the other in circumstances where order of death was
unknown and transferred a life estate to such surviving
spouse. For estate tax purposes, the transferred life
estates were valued on the basis of actuarial tables,
and each estate took a credit for tax on prior
transfers pursuant to sec. 2013, I.R.C. R disallowed
these credits on the grounds that, under recognized
valuation principles, the life estates were not to be
valued by resort to actuarial tables but, rather, must
be accorded no value.
Held: The reciprocal life estates at issue are not
appropriately valued utilizing actuarial tables, must be
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