United States v. Gilmore, 15130.

• Decision Date: 29 June 1955
• Docket Number: No. 15130.,15130.
• Citation: 222 F.2d 167
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Lynne Marx GILMORE, formerly Lynne Marx Knauer, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

222 F.2d 167 (1955)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Lynne Marx GILMORE, formerly Lynne Marx Knauer, Appellee.

No. 15130.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

May 4, 1955.

Rehearing Denied June 29, 1955.

Louise Foster, Ellis N. Slack, Sp. Asst. to Atty. Gen., H. Brian Holland, Asst. Atty. Gen., E. David Rosen, Asst. U. S. Atty., Miami, Fla., A. F. Prescott, George F. Lynch, Sp. Assts. to the Atty. Gen., James L. Guilmartin, U. S. Atty., Miami, Fla., for appellant.

B. E. Hendricks, Hendricks & Hendricks, Miami, Fla., for appellee.

Before HUTCHESON, Chief Judge, and RIVES and TUTTLE, Circuit Judges.

RIVES, Circuit Judge.

The question to be decided is whether the appellee, widow of Francis A. Knauer, who was beneficiary of her husband's life insurance and also administratrix of his estate is liable for her deceased husband's unpaid federal income taxes when, as administratrix, she had exhausted the assets of the estate, other than life insurance, in payment of federal estate taxes prior to knowledge of liability for income tax. Two grounds are urged upon which it is claimed that the widow is so liable: (1) that, under 26 U.S.C.A. §§ 811(g) (2),¹ 826(c),² and 827(b),³ the proceeds of the life insurance were subject to being applied to payment of the estate taxes thereby leaving enough other estate for the payment of the income tax; (2) that the widow is liable as a transferee at least to the extent of the cash surrender value of the insurance.⁴ For the reasons hereinafter assigned, we hold that liability exists upon the first ground.

Francis A. Knauer died on January 14, 1945. His widow was appointed administratrix of his estate on February 6, 1945. His estate other than insurance amounted to $7,954.65. At the time of his death, he held life insurance policies upon which he had paid the premiums and which then had a cash surrender value of $9,227.98. His widow was the designated beneficiary with the right retained by the insured to change the beneficiary. The insurance also inured to the widow by virtue of the Florida statutes.⁵ The proceeds of insurance in the amount of $90,838.31 were paid to or for the benefit of the widow. Estate taxes were paid in the amount of $11,201.01 before the widow knew of any liability for her deceased husband's unpaid income taxes. In paying such estate taxes, the assets of the estate, other than any claim on life insurance, were exhausted and the widow used in addition some personal assets. On December 19, 1947, the United States assessed deficiency assessments against the estate for deficiencies, in the income taxes due from the deceased for the year 1943 in the amount of $3,858.17, and for the year 1944 in the amount of $1,596.47. This suit is for the recovery of such deficiency assessments in income taxes of the deceased husband.

If the liabilities for both income taxes and estate tax had been known at the time of decedent's death, it could hardly be argued that the Government should be prevented from collecting decedent's income taxes merely because the administratrix chose to pay the estate tax first. A consideration of the legal significance of the sequence of events will demonstrate, we believe, that since such liabilities actually existed on the date of the decedent's death, and no superior rights intervened, it is not material that either or both of such liabilities were discovered later. In 1943 and 1944, Knauer, now deceased, received income from which his liability for income tax arose. Such liability ripened into indebtedness to the Government when Knauer filed his returns. It is immaterial that the deficiencies were not discovered and assessed by the Government until 1947, for, to paraphrase the language of the Supreme Court in its opinion in the recent combined cases of United States v. Koppers Co. (Premier Oil Refining Co. v. United States), 348 U.S. 254, 263, 75 S.Ct. 268, we find nothing to justify a greater tax advantage to any taxpayer who underpays his correct tax, over one who pays such tax in full when due. Our income tax law is premised largely on the theory of self-assessment. 9 Merten's Law of Federal Income Taxation, Sec. 49.02, p. 6.

It follows that on January 14, 1945, just before he met his death, Knauer was indebted to the Government in the amount of $5,454.64, the sum of his deficiencies in income taxes for the years 1943 and 1944, thereafter determined. At that time, just before Knauer's death, the cash surrender value of his insurance policies could be subjected to the payment of his income tax indebtedness to the Government. That is conceded by the appellee in brief: "We readily admit that the interest of the wife and children as beneficiaries of the insurance policies during the lifetime of the insured, was only an inchoate interest and their rights were not vested rights. * * * We freely concede that had the debt here sought to be recovered been actually determined, assessed and demand therefor made during the lifetime of the insured, that the Government could have instituted an action against the insured as defendant and subjected the cash surrender value to its lien and collected the same through its action. See Smith v. Donnelly D.C., 65 F.Supp. 415; Cannon v. Nicholas 10 Cir., 80 F.2d 934; Kyle v. McGuirk 3 Cir., 82 F.2d 212."

The cash surrender value of the insurance policies just before Knauer's death amounted to $9,227.98, more than enough to pay the indebtedness then owing to the Government of $5,454.64. That indebtedness had priority if Knauer was insolvent, 31 U.S.C.A. § 191, but actually such cash surrender value was also enough to discharge his then indebtedness in the amount of $1,407.88 to others than the Government. In addition, Knauer at that time owned other property amounting to at least $7,954.65. There can then be no doubt that if Knauer had returned the correct amounts of his income taxes for 1943 and 1944, those amounts would have been paid, if not out of his earnings, then out of his properties.

Knauer's death on January 14, 1945, was the event in respect of which the estate tax was laid. Griswold v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 56, 58, 54 S.Ct. 5, 78 L.Ed. 166. Again, it makes no difference that there had been no assessment and the amount of the estate tax had not then been determined; the estate must be considered as indebted to the Government in the amount of estate tax thereafter determined and assessed, $11,201.01, as of and immediately after Knauer's death on January 14, 1945. Detroit Bank v. United States, 317 U.S. 329, 332, 63 S.Ct. 297, 87 L.Ed. 304; Fernandez v. Wiener, 326 U.S. 340, 354, 66 S.Ct. 178, 90 L.Ed. 116; Smythe v. United States, 1 Cir., 169 F.2d 49, 50; 26 U.S.C.A. § 827, Note 5.

The widow, then, received Knauer's estate, as if it were subject to two indebtednesses to the Government, one for income taxes accrued prior to his death and the other for estate tax attaching as of the date of his death. Both Government indebtednesses had priority over all other debts of the estate, 31 U.S.C.A. § 191. There were, at the time of his death, ample assets of the estate, other than the proceeds or cash surrender value of the insurance, to pay such accrued income taxes, $7,954.65 with which to pay $5,454.64. In fact, such other assets were sufficient also to pay the other estate debts, $1,407.88, with the exception of the estate tax.

The liability for estate tax was brought about by reason of the inclusion in the estate of the proceeds of life insurance payable to the widow. 26 U.S.C.A. § 811 (g) (2). See Footnote 1, supra. The appellee concedes in brief, "* * * we readily admit that the inclusion of the insurance created liability for estate taxes of $11,201.01 * * *."⁶ The widow, as administratrix, was entitled to recover from herself personally, and she was personally liable for such portion of the total estate tax as the proceeds of the policies bore to the sum of the net estate and the amount of the exemption allowed in computing the net estate. 26 U.S.C.A. §§ 826(c), 827(b), (Footnote 2 and 3, supra); Treasury Regulations 105, § 81.27.⁷

The right of the administratrix to force contribution from the widow beneficiary in the proportions set out in Section 826(c), supra see also Section 827 (b), supra, was one of the assets of the estate. That is true, notwithstanding that, in the absence of the controlling federal statutes, the proceeds of the insurance would have inured exclusively and directly to the widow under the Florida statutes quoted in footnote 5, supra.⁸ The widow as administratrix of course owed a primary duty to the United States and other creditors to collect all of the assets of the estate. 33 C.J.S., Executors and Administrators, § 167; 21 Am.Jur., Executors and Administrators, Sec. 221. To the extent that she failed to collect from herself personally any of the assets of the estate, the widow would be liable. Assuming that the assets had been collected, the widow was not entitled to participate in a distribution of the estate until, as administratrix, she had discharged both of the indebtednesses to the Government. To the extent that she used the assets of the estate other than the life insurance proceeds to satisfy the estate tax, for which as the recipient of the life insurance proceeds she was personally liable, she must be deemed to have received the benefit of such other estate assets and to have made a distribution to herself before discharging the liabilities of the estate. Stated otherwise, in effect, for estate tax purposes the insurance proceeds were a part of the estate; so considered, it was the duty of the widow, as administratrix, to collect such assets and to handle the estate in such a manner that all of its liabilities would be discharged before she received any distribution from the estate or any of the proceeds of the insurance liable for the payment of estate tax. The principle is closely akin to the equitable doctrine of marshalling. See 35...