Estate of Mona Bettin, Deceased. Fredric Bettin v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

This is an appeal from a decision of the United States Tax Court. The sole issue for consideration in this appeal is whether the Tax Court correctly found that withdrawals by the petitioner of certain amounts from a joint bank account in the names of himself and the decedent did not constitute gifts from the decedent to himself.

Facts

The following facts are adopted substantially from the Tax Court’s Memorandum Opinion, filed April 24, 1974. Fredric Bet-tin, petitioner, is the nephew and executor of the estate of Mona E. Bettin, who died on September 24, 1967. Petitioner was a resident of Los Angeles County, California, at the time he filed the petition. He filed an estate tax return with the District Director of Internal Revenue, Los Angeles, California.

Mona E. Bettin (the decedent) was born on September 20, 1888 in the state of Kansas. The decedent was a physician throughout her professional life. On January 1, 1964, the decedent was found to have generalized peritonitis from a ruptured diverticulitis of the colon. Emergency surgery was performed that day. A subsequent operation was performed on February 12, 1964. The decedent was able to survive these operations because of…