- 45 -
Commissioner, 309 U.S. 78, 80 (1940) (State law creates legal
interests and rights, and Federal tax law determines the proper
tax treatment of those interests or rights); Estate of Davenport
v. Commissioner, 184 F.3d 1176, 1182 (10th Cir. 1999) (quoting
United States v. Irvine, 511 U.S. 224, 238 (1994)), affg. T.C.
Memo. 1997-390.
We begin our analysis with the assignment,43 the document
that petitioner contends accomplished the withdrawal of the
Marital Fund assets and the transfer of those assets to the
trusts of decedent’s children and to GFLP. We examine Oklahoma
law to ascertain the effect of the assignment. See Morgan v.
Commissioner, supra at 80.
Under Oklahoma law, an assignment is “‘an expression of
intention by one that his rights shall pass to and be owned by
another.’” Johnson v. Schick, 882 P.2d 1059, 1061 (Okla. 1994)
(quoting Hoffman v. Barnett, 178 P.2d 89, 90 (Okla. 1946)). An
assignment may be a legal assignment that relates to a “thing in
being”, or it may be an equitable assignment that relates to
contingent interests, expectancies, and things potential.
Hoffman v. Barnett, supra at 91. A valid assignment is
43Although the same disturbing informality characterized
transactions involving Sidney Gore, respondent concedes that
“certain stock was distributed to the Sidney Gore Trust as a
marital bequest to decedent.” In other words, respondent does
not contest that there was a qualifying transfer into the Sidney
Gore Trust and that the Marital Fund was in existence.
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