- 13 - SEC. 2039. ANNUITIES. (a) General.--The gross estate shall include the value of an annuity or other payment receivable by any beneficiary by reason of surviving the decedent under any form of contract or agreement entered into after March 3, 1931 (other than as insurance under policies on the life of the decedent), if, under such contract or agreement, an annuity or other payment was payable to the decedent, or the decedent possessed the right to receive such annuity or payment, either alone or in conjunction with another 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. (b) Amount Includible.--Subsection (a) shall apply to only such part of the value of the annuity or other payment receivable under such contract or agreement as is proportionate to that part of the purchase price therefor contributed by the decedent. * * * In considering the inclusion of an annuity in the gross estate, the conflation of sections 2033 and 2039 casts a wide net. Section 2033 and its predecessors have long been construed to reach annuities payable to a decedent’s estate upon his or her death. E.g., Millard v. Maloney, 121 F.2d 257, 259 (3d Cir. 1941); Equitable Trust Co. v. Commissioner, 31 B.T.A. 329, 333- 334 (1934), revd. on another issue sub nom. Commissioner v. Chase Natl. Bank, 82 F.2d 157 (2d Cir. 1936); Arrington v. United States, 34 Fed. Cl. 144, 147-148, 150 (1995), affd. without published opinion 108 F.3d 1393 (Fed. Cir. 1997). Section 2039 was enacted to broaden the reach of the gross estate to draw in annuities payable to surviving beneficiaries, such as joint and survivor annuities and annuities to be received by designated third persons. Gray v. United States, 410 F.2d 1094, 1096-1097Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011