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that “a statutory term should be given its normal and customary
meaning.” Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Commissioner, 95 T.C. 348, 356
(1990).
Black’s Law Dictionary 88 (7th ed. 1999) defines annuity as
“An obligation to pay a stated sum, usu. monthly or annually, to
a stated recipient” and as “A fixed sum of money payable
periodically”. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 88
(1976) provides that an annuity is “an amount payable yearly or
at other regular intervals (as quarterly) for a certain or
uncertain period”. We likewise pointed out in Estate of Shapiro
v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-483, that “An ‘annuity’ is
commonly defined as a fixed, periodic payment, either for life or
a term of years.” Additionally, although not directly applicable
here due to the December 14, 1995, effective date, we note that
section 20.7520-3(b)(1)(i)(A), Estate Tax Regs., now contains the
analogous statement that “An ordinary annuity interest is the
right to receive a fixed dollar amount at the end of each year
during one or more measuring lives or for some other defined
period.”
In the instant case, the estate acknowledges that the LOTTO
installments are consistent with these definitions. However, the
estate further maintains that such definitions, standing alone,
are overinclusive, in that they focus solely on the payment
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