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charge against the estate. See Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. Serv.
700.1103(g), 700.3805(1)(b) (LexisNexis 2005).
On Form 706, the estate claimed total funeral expenses of
$7,796.38, broken down and described therein as follows:
Description Amount
A.H. Peters Funeral Home $2,475.20
Cremation 105.00
Soloist 150.00
Priest 250.00
Organist 150.00
Obituary notice 316.84
Cemetery (niche for urn) 250.00
Funeral luncheon 3,638.92
Various related expenses (holy
picture cards, acknowledgments,
postage) 460.42
Respondent allowed all of the expenses claimed with the exception
of the $3,639 (rounded) designated for the funeral luncheon. The
estate alleges that the cost of the luncheon is properly
deductible under section 2053(a)(1).
Regulations promulgated under section 2053(a)(1) offer only
limited guidance. Although neither the statute itself nor the
regulations define “funeral expenses”, section 20.2053-2, Estate
Tax Regs., highlights “A reasonable expenditure for a tombstone,
monument, or mausoleum, or for a burial lot, either for the
decedent or his family, including a reasonable expenditure for
its future care” and “the cost of transportation of the person
bringing the body to the place of burial” as examples of
deductible costs. Caselaw interpreting the term has in turn
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