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beneficial interest in the annuities at the time of her death.
The record as a whole clearly manifests that decedent held at
least some beneficial interest in the annuities. Decedent was
one of three plaintiffs in the underlying lawsuit, injuries she
suffered at the hands of the defendants were expressly detailed
in the complaint, and explicit claims for judgment to redress
those injuries were made by her. The settlement agreement was
then entered to resolve that lawsuit, and decedent therein was
named as the payee of the annuities, and only of the annuities.
Decedent was also the measuring life or annuitant for both of the
annuity contracts obtained to fund the settlement agreement
payments, and the resultant benefit checks were made payable to
her through her parents as co-conservators.
On these facts, there can be little doubt that decedent
possessed at least some beneficial interest in the annuities.
Moreover, even the estate does not appear seriously to contend to
the contrary. Rather, the estate focuses on arguing that
decedent’s parents likewise held beneficial interests in the
annuities. This nuance goes more properly to the question of the
extent of decedent’s interest for purposes of inclusion in her
gross estate, not the antecedent issue of some interest
includable under section 2033.
Concerning this issue of the extent of decedent’s interest,
the documentary record as a whole leans distinctly in the
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