Estate of Frank Armstrong, Jr., Deceased, Frank Armstrong III, Executor - Page 30




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          legitimately impose “reasonable regulations that do not                     
          significantly interfere with decisions to enter into the marital            
          relationship”); Califano v. Jobst, 434 U.S. 47, 58 (1977) (Social           
          Security classifications that had a tangential impact upon a                
          marital decision did not violate due process).  As previously               
          discussed, section 2035(c) is rationally related to a legitimate            
          governmental purpose.  The estate’s suggestion that the                     
          Constitution requires married persons and single persons to be              
          taxed identically is refuted by a long line of cases.  See, e.g.,           
          Ensminger v. Commissioner, 610 F.2d 189 (4th Cir. 1979), affg.              
          T.C. Memo. 1977-224; Mapes v. United States, 217 Ct. Cl. 115, 576           
          F.2d 896, 904 (1978) (“there cannot be a ‘marriage neutral’ tax             
          system”); DeMars v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 247, 250-251 (1982)               
          (requiring married persons to combine their adjusted gross                  
          incomes to determine eligibility for disability income exclusion            
          has a rational basis); Druker v. Commissioner, 77 T.C. 867, 872-            
          873 (1981) (“the differences in exposure to tax liability between           
          married and single persons do not rise to the level of an                   
          impermissible interference with the enjoyment of the fundamental            
          right to marry or remain married”), affd. on this issue and revd.           
          in part 697 F.2d 46 (2d Cir. 1982); Kellems v. Commissioner, 58             
          T.C. 556 (1972) (finding that geographic equalization of                    
          taxpayers in community and noncommunity property States, as well            
          as greater financial burdens of married persons, constitutes a              






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