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herself of the trust income, and otherwise the trust income
is to be accumulated and added to corpus.
For purposes of the marital deduction and in considering the
interests passing to a surviving spouse, this Court applies the
law of jurisdiction under which the interest passes. Estate of
Bosch v. Commissioner, 387 U.S. 456 (1967); see Estate of
Nicholson v. Commissioner, supra; see also Estate of Doherty v.
Commissioner, supra; Estate of Bowling v. Commissioner, 93 T.C.
286 (1989); sec. 20.2056(b)-5(e), Estate Tax Regs. In the
instant case, the parties do not dispute that the applicable law
is that of the State of California, and we therefore apply the
law of the State of California. Lassiter v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 2000-324.
In Estate of Dodge v. Stone, 491 P.2d 385, 394 (Cal. 1971)
(citing Estate of Wilson v. Doolittle, 193 P. 581 (Cal. 1920)),
the Supreme Court of California held that “The paramount rule in
the construction of wills, to which all other rules must yield,
is that a will is to be construed according to the intention of
the testator as expressed therein, and this intention will be
given effect as far as possible.” The intent of a testator is
found by examining the document as a whole. Estate of Heim v.
Commissioner, 914 F.2d 1322, 1329-1330 (9th Cir. 1990), affg.
T.C. Memo. 1988-433; see Estate of Rapp v. Commissioner, 140 F.3d
1211 (9th Cir. 1998), affg. T.C. Memo. 1996-10 (applying
California law); see also Estate of Dodge v. Stone, supra; Estate
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