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Abstract

Testator left his estate in trust for the life of his mother, giving her a life income of $750 per month. The trustees were authorized to use the rest of the income and the principal for her "pleasure, comfort and welfare" and were instructed to care and provide for her as she might desire. A deduction for a gift to charity of a portion of the remainder was disallowed by the commissioner. The executor sued to recover the tax paid, alleging that the annual income from the estate exceeded the mother's fixed share by $6000, that she had independent investments, earning $300 per month, that she was a woman of moderate needs, without dependents, living on substantially less than $750 per month, and that she was eighty-five years old at the death of the testator. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a cause of action. The circuit court of appeals reversed, holding that despite the provisions of the power, there was an issue of fact whether the corpus was threatened with invasion. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, reversed. The amount of the charitable gift was not "presently ascertainable,'' as the trustees' disbursements were not limited by any ready standard. Henslee v. Union Planters National Bank & Trust Co., (U.S. 1949) 69 S.Ct. 290.

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