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Section 2039(b) limits the inclusion in the gross estate of the
value of certain annuities to “only such part of the value of the
annuity * * * as is proportionate to that part of the purchase
price therefor contributed by the decedent.” Accordingly, the
estate argued, since the decedent had provided only $1 towards
the purchase price of the annuity represented by the lottery
payments, which was an infinitesimal percentage of the purchase
price contributed by the other purchasers of tickets in the same
lottery, the portion of the annuity includible in the gross
estate should be zero. The District Court rejected this
argument, concluding that no portion of the annuity qualified for
exclusion under section 2039(b) because the interest in the
lottery payments “represents the accumulated wealth of the
decedent.” Estate of Shackleford v. United States, 82 AFTR 2d at
98-5542, 98-2 USTC par. 60320 at 86,530. Consequently, the
entire annuity was includible in the gross estate.
Petitioner here reasons that, since the District Court in
Estate of Shackleford rejected the argument that a $1 lottery
ticket constituted only “part of the purchase price” (within the
meaning of section 2039(b)) of the annuity resulting from the
lottery win, and instead required that the entire annuity be
included in the gross estate, it follows that the decedent’s $1
payment for the lottery ticket constituted the entire purchase
price for the annuity. Thus, petitioner reasons, if the $1 price
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