Estate of Harriet H. Chown, Deceased, Howard B. Somer v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

The executor of the Estate of Harriet H. Chown, deceased, seeks review of a decision of the Tax Court, reported at 51 T.C. 140 (1968). We reverse.

The case was submitted to the Tax Court on stipulated facts. Harriet was the absolute owner of an insurance policy on the life of her husband, Roger, which named herself as primary beneficiary and their children as secondary beneficiaries. The policy was purchased by her in 1959, when Roger was 49 and she was 48. On February 25, 1964, Harriet and Roger died in a commercial airline crash near New Orleans, Louisiana, in which all of the passengers were killed. The evidence does not disclose whether death was simultaneous, whether husband or wife died first, or whether one momentarily survived the other.

The Chowns were residents of Oregon, where their wills were probated. The tragedy triggered a double indemnity provision of the policy. The face amount of the policy was $50,000, but an additional $50,000 was payable if death were to result from injury effected through accidental means. The circumstances also brought into play the Oregon “Uniform Simultaneous Death Act,” which provides in pertinent part (1 Oregon Revised…