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transferred. I disagree with this conclusion. Section 2036(a)
provides:
SEC. 2036(a). General Rule.--The value of the
gross estate shall include the value of all property to
the extent of any interest therein of which the
decedent has at any time made a transfer (except in
case of a bona fide sale for an adequate and full
consideration in money or money’s worth), by trust or
otherwise, under which he has retained for his life or
for any period not ascertainable without reference to
his death or for any period which does not in fact end
before his death--
(1) the possession or enjoyment of, or
the right to the income from, the property,
or
(2) the right, either alone or in
conjunction with any person, to designate the
persons who shall possess or enjoy the
property or the income therefrom. [Emphasis
added.]
Firmly established caselaw holds that the emphasized text, the
adequate and full consideration exception, is satisfied only when
a transferor receives consideration in money or money’s worth
equal to the value of the property transferred by the transferor;
i.e., consideration with a value sufficient to prevent the
transfer from depleting the transferor’s gross estate. E.g.,
Estate of Wheeler v. United States, 116 F.3d 749, 761 (5th Cir.
1997) (“unless a transfer that depletes the transferor’s estate
is joined with a transfer that augments the estate by a
commensurate (monetary) amount, there is no ‘adequate and full
consideration’ for the purposes of either the estate or gift
tax”); Estate of D’Ambrosio v. Commissioner, 101 F.3d 309, 312
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