Young v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE
| Decision Date | 27 January 1939 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 90414. |
| Citation | 39 BTA 230 |
| Parties | EDYTHE C. YOUNG AS EXECUTRIX OF THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF WILLIAM J. YOUNG, JR., DECEASED, PETITIONER, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, RESPONDENT. |
| Court | U.S. Board of Tax Appeals |
John W. Townsend Esq., for the petitioner.
Harold F. Noneman, Esq., for the respondent.
This proceeding involves a deficiency in estate tax in the amount of $421.40. The issue is whether decedent's gross estate should be reduced by $12,500 under the facts hereinafter set forth. The answer admits some of the allegations of the petition and the other facts are stipulated. We set forth only so much thereof as are deemed necessary for a determination of the case.
FINDINGS OF FACT.
The petitioner, Edythe C. Young, is the duly appointed, qualified, and acting sole executrix of the last will and testament of William J. Young, Jr., who died May 31, 1935, a resident of Pima County, Arizona.
Until November 13, 1917, the deceased was the husband of Katherine P. Young, who resided in Clinton County, Iowa. The said Katherine P. Young had instituted divorce proceedings in said county against the decedent, and on November 12, 1917, the plaintiff and defendant entered into a written agreement as follows:
It is hereby stipulated by and between the parties hereto that in event decree is granted to plaintiff herein, she shall be awarded, as alimony:
1. The homestead, now occupied by the said plaintiff, in the City of Clinton, Iowa, title to which is now in the names of the parties hereto.
2. All household effects, furniture, carpets, dishes, pictures, books and all other personal property now in said homestead, except so much as may remain of the personal jewelry and photographs said defendant left when he went to Arizona in 1909.
3. The sum of $4,500 per annum during the life time of plaintiff, to be paid monthly or quarterly, in advance, as defendant may from time to time elect.
4. The sum of $1,000 attorney fees.
5. Said defendant, in consideration of the acceptance by said plaintiff of the foregoing provisions for alimony, hereby agrees to convey at once all his interest in said homestead to said plaintiff; to pay, in addition thereto, all the taxes on said homestead and furniture for the year 1917, and all in excess of $300 for the year 1918; furnish and pay for a sufficient amount of fuel to properly heat said homestead during the winter and spring of 1917 and 1918; pay all claims now owing by said plaintiff which have been heretofore allowed by said defendant as a part of said plaintiff's expenses, and if at the expiration of the year 1918, said plaintiff elects to sell said homestead, or has been unable to sell it prior to that time, that he will purchase said homestead, and pay therefor the sum of $10,000 cash, provided, however, that said homestead is in the same condition as it is now in, ordinary wear excepted, and, in the event of its destruction, in whole or in part, by fire, prior to that time the plaintiff will credit as part payment of said sum of $10,000 whatever sum she may realize from the insurance on said property and during all of said period.
Said plaintiff agrees to keep at least $5,000 insurance in force on said premises.
Under date of November 13, 1917, the judge of the District Court in and for Clinton County, Iowa, entered a decree of divorce and for alimony, which, after preliminary recitals, contains the following:
WHEREFORE, it is hereby ordered, adjudged and decreed by the court that said plaintiff be and she is hereby divorced from the said defendant and each of said parties is restored to all the rights and privileges of single persons, except that neither party hereto may remarry within one year from date of this decree; that said plaintiff be and she is hereby awarded all household goods, furniture, furnishings, books, pictures, etc., now in and about the premises, now occupied by her as a homestead, in the City of Clinton, Iowa, and the sum of $4,500 per annum during her natural life to be paid in accordance with the terms of a stipulation this day entered into, by and between the parties hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, as alimony, and that he pay into court the sum of $1,000 attorney fees, and that she have and recover of and from said defendant the costs of this action, taxed at the sum of $8.25, and judgment is hereby rendered herein accordingly.
The alimony payments required to be made up to and including the date of decedent's death were made.
After the death of decedent, Katherine P. Young made claim that she was entitled to be paid from the assets of the estate the sum of $4,500 per annum for as long as she might live, and the question arose as to whether said payments should continue after decedent's death. Thereafter, the claim was compromised and settled by a written agreement entered into on the 20th day of February 1936, by and between Edythe C. Young, as executrix of the last will and testament of William J. Young, Jr., deceased, as party of the first part, and Katherine P. Young as party of the second part. The agreement recites, among other things, the decree of the divorce court, the dispute as to the rights of Katherine P. Young "under said decree after the death" of the decedent, and the proposed compromise of the claim of Katherine P. Young by the prompt delivery of $12,500 par value of notes of W. J. Young & Co., then owned by the estate. The agreement then provides:
The party of the second part agrees that upon this agreement being approved by said Superior Court of the State of Arizona in and for the County of Pima, and upon said $12,500.00 par value of notes of said W. J. Young & Company, a corporation, being delivered to the party of the second part, to be, with the income accrued and to accrue thereon from and after the 31st day of May, 1935, the absolute property of the party of the second part, she, the party of the second part, shall not have nor make any further claim of any kind, character, or description whatsoever against the estate of said William J. Young, Jr., deceased, or any property of said estate, and that all of the remainder of the property of the estate of said William J. Young, Jr., deceased, shall go and be distributed in accordance with the terms of the aforesaid last will and testament of said William J. Young, Jr., deceased.
Thereafter, petitioner filed a petition in the Superior Court of Arizona for approval and confirmation of the proposed settlement, and on the 28th day of February 1936, the settlement and compromise of the claim was duly approved by the court in an order reading as follows:
The petition of Edythe C. Young, as executrix of the last will and testament of the above named decedent, for an order authorizing her to compromise a claim against the said estate made by Katherine P. Young, coming on regularly to be heard, the Court deeming notice of said petition to be unnecessary, and the Court being advised in the premises and finding the averments of the petition to be true and that it is to the best interests of the said estate that the said petition be granted and the compromise therein mentioned effected, now, therefore, it is
ORDERED, that the said petition be and the same is hereby granted; that the said executrix be and she hereby is authorized and directed to enter into a contract in the terms set forth in the draft of an agreement attached to said petition and that the said agreement so signed by her shall be in all things binding and of full force and effect; that the said executrix is hereby directed to carry out the terms of said agreement and to convey unto the said Katherine P. Young $12,500.00 par value of the promissory notes of W. J. Young & Company, a corporation of Clinton, Iowa, and all unpaid interest which has accrued thereon since May 31, 1935, and to pay to the said Katherine P. Young any and all interest which has accrued on said amount of promissory notes since May 31, 1935 and which has been paid to the said estate, the said notes, interest, and payment to be the property and estate of the said Katherine P. Young free and clear of any and all claims against the estate of the said decedent and any and all obligations of the said estate; that said transfer and payment shall be made to the said Katherine P. Young in full payment and discharge of any and all claims which she has or may have against the said estate and the property thereof and against Edythe C. Young as distributee thereof, under or by virtue of the decree of divorce mentioned in said petition or the stipulation in said decree referred to, or otherwise.
Petitioner duly filed a Federal estate tax return as executrix, wherein a deduction was claimed in the amount of $12,500 on account of Katherine P. Young's claim against decedent's estate which had been duly allowed by the Superior Court of the State of Arizona in and for the County of Pima. The respondent disallowed the deduction. Since the issuance of the deficiency...
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