Estate of Isabelle M. Sparling, Deceased. Crocker Citizens National Bank, Trustee v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue appeals from a portion of a decision of the United States Tax Court allowing the Estate of Isabelle M. Sparling a credit against tax under § 2013 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. § 2013 . The opinion of the Tax Court is reported at 60 T.C. 330 . This Court has jurisdiction under 26 U.S.C. § 7482 .

The facts leading to this appeal are not in dispute. Isabelle Sparling and her husband, Raymond, were residents of California. Mr. Sparling died testate on February 5, 1956. When her husband died, Mrs. Spar- ling was put to an election under his will, either to claim and keep her share of the community property to which she was entitled under California law, or to take under the will and permit its terms to govern the disposition of her community interest.

The will provided for a testamentary trust, the corpus of which was to include, upon the election of Mrs. Sparling, all the community property owned by them. Mrs. Sparling was to be the principal income beneficiary of the trust during her lifetime, and, upon her death, the corpus was to be divided among Mr. Sparling’s two children, and Mrs. Sparling’s daughter whom Mr. Sparling had…