Court Opinion

ID: 9443772
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 19:30:15.451055+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:29:35.977142
License: Public Domain

WOODBURY, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
The question is close, but nevertheless I feel constrained to disagree with my associates as to the interpretation of § 812 (d) of the Internal Revenue Code.
I am persuaded that under Massachusetts law on the particular facts of this case enforceable constructive trusts for the benefit of each charity named in the memorandum in the amount set opposite the name of each arose at the death of the testatrix, as the court below held and as my associates are willing to concede. In this situation, I would allow a deduction under § 812(d) from the gross estate in the total amount which the charities received.
The section under consideration provides that lor the purpose of the tax tile value of the net estate shall be determined by deducting from the value of the gross estate the “amount of all bequests, legacies, devises, or transfers * * * to or for *864the use of” charities such as those listed in the memorandum. If the statute provided only for the deduction of “bequests, legacies, devises * * * to” charities, I would agree with my associates’ interpretation, for those words alone imply only the normal situation of a strictly testamentary gift directly to a charity. But the statute also includes “transfers * * * for the use of” charities, and to give these words additional meaning I think they should be construed to cover the transfer of money from an estate to a charity accomplished by the device of a constructive trust imposed by'local law on a testamentary disposition because of a testator’s reliance upon his legatee’s agreement to hold the devise for the benefit of the charity. That is to say, it seems to me that what was in fact accomplished here falls squarely within the definition of transfers to the use of charities, and hence I think that deduction of the amounts which actually passed to the charities is authorized by § 812(d) of the Internal Revenue Code.