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We agree with petitioner that any gift to his sons was not
completed before August 2, 1991.9 On August 1, 1991, there was
no completed gift, because there was no donee, and petitioner had
not parted with dominion and control over the property.
Petitioner could not make a gift to himself. See Kincaid v.
United States, 682 F.2d 1220, 1224 (5th Cir. 1982).
We disagree with petitioner’s contention, however, that his
gifts to his sons of interests in the leased land represented
gifts of minority partnership interests because, as just
discussed, the creation of the partnership (and therefore the
creation of the sons’ partnership interests) preceded the
completion of petitioner’s gift to the partnership. To adopt
petitioner’s contention would require us to recognize the
existence, however fleeting, of a one-person partnership,
contrary to Alabama law, which defines a partnership as “An
association of two or more persons to carry on as co-owners a
9 The Alabama Recording Act, Ala. Code sec. 35-4-90(a)
(1991), generally provides that the conveyance of land is void as
to the grantee unless the deed transferring the land is recorded.
Here, the deeds conveying the land to the partnership were not
recorded until Aug. 30, 1991. Neither party has raised, and we
do not reach, the issue of whether petitioner’s gifts were not
completed until the date of recordation. Cf. Estate of Whitt v.
Commissioner, 751 F.2d 1548, 1561 (11th Cir. 1985) (facts
indicated that gifts were not intended to be completed until the
recordation of the deeds of conveyance), affg. T.C. Memo. 1983-
262. It is of little consequence to our analysis, however,
whether petitioner’s gifts of interests in the leased land were
completed on Aug. 2 or Aug. 30, 1991.
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