Estate's Charitable Deduction Reduced Because of Family Members' Manipulations

Abstract

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held, by decision dated March 12, that an estate's charitable contribution deduction had to be reduced, by reason of postdeath intrafamily manipulations that caused property of considerably lesser value than that originally bequeathed to pass to the private foundation that was established by the decedent (Dieringer v. Commissioner). This opinion affirmed the decision of the US Tax Court (opinion summarized in the June 2016 issue).