helvering hallock argued decided january nos arnold raum petitioner walker nye ashley vau duzer cleveland ohio respondents hallock annat cleveland ohio respondent squire arnold raum washington petitioner wm spofford philadelphia respondent huston gilmer korner washington david day bridgeport petitioners bryant arnold raum respondent helvering justice frankfurter delivered opinion cases raise question namely whether transfers property inter vivos made trust particulars later appear within provisions revenue act heard succession may decided together case commissioner internal revenue included trust property decedent gross estate nos determination reversed board tax appeals board affirmed circuit appeals sixth circuit taxpayer paid protest successfully sued recovery district eastern district pennsylvania judgment sustained circuit appeals third circuit commissioner part successful board tax appeals circuit appeals second circuit affirmed board neither issue turn unglossed text enforcement treasury courts alike encounter three recent decisions klein helvering louis trust becker louis trust difficulties lower courts found applying distinctions made cases seeming disharmony results judged controlling purposes estate tax law brought cases helvering hallock rothensies cassell bryant commissioner internal revenue involve dispositions property way trust settlement provides return reversion corpus donor upon contingency terminable death whether transfer made decedent lifetime take effect possession enjoyment death reason retained crux problem must put one side questions arise sections estate tax law relating transfers taking place death section deals property technically passing death interests theretofore created taxable event transfer inter vivos measure tax value transferred property time death brings enjoyment turn cases beget difficulties klein supra decided decedent lifetime conveyed land wife lifetime shall die prior decease said grantor event shall virtue hereof take greater estate said lands reversion fee shall event remain vested said grantor instrument provided condition event said grantee shall survive said grantor case said grantee shall virtue conveyance take hold said lands fee simple taxpayer contended decedent reserved mere reverter extinguishable upon grantor death sufficient bring conveyance within reckoning taxable estate held otherwise rejected formal distinctions pertaining law real property irrelevant criteria field taxation gained said multiplying words respect various niceties art conveyancing law contingent vested remainders perfectly plain death grantor indispensable intended event brought larger estate grantee effected transmission dead living thus satisfying terms taxing act justifying tax imposed klein supra page page inescapable rationale decision rendered unanimous statute taxes merely interests deemed pass death according refined technicalities law property also taxes inter vivos transfers much akin testamentary dispositions subjected excise bringing gross estate death settlor gave contingently upon fastened vital factor refused subordinate plain purposes modern fiscal measure wholly unrelated origins recondite learning ancient property law surely klein decision intended encourage belief change merely phrasing grant serve create judicially cognizable difference scope although grantor retained possibility regaining transferred property upon precisely contingency teaching klein case exactly opposite louis trust cases came rational application principles klein case situations us calls scrutiny particulars louis cases order extract relation doctrine earlier decision helvering louis trust supra decedent conveyed property trust income paid daughter life death grantor still living trustee shall forthwith transfer pay deliver entire estate grantor absolutely grantor living income devoted settlor wife living upon death daughter wife living trust property go daughter children left none grantor next kin becker louis trust supra decedent declared trustee property income accumulated discretion paid daughter life instrument provided said beneficiary die death trust estate shall thereupon revert become mine immediately absolutely die death property shall thereupon become immediately absolutely authority klein case commissioner included taxable estates gifts louis trust cases grantor death given definitive measure wife predeceased settlor klein case repossessed property wife interests freed contingency husband prior death effect death swept gift gross estate helvering louis trust supra grantor become repossessed granted corpus daughter predeceased predeceased event interest ripened full dominion analysis applies becker case three situations result effect event gave beneficiaries dominion property prior donor death act nature outside grantor design volition helvering louis trust less far grantor design volition concerned louis trust cases klein case none three cases dominion property finally came beneficiary fall virtue grantor except provision death establish final complete dominion yet mere difference phrasing circumstance identic interests property brought forms words creation worldly found sufficient exclude louis trust settlements application klein doctrine four members saw difference relied governing principle congress meant include gross estate inter vivos gifts may resorted substitute making dispositions property operative death helvering louis trust page page effectuate purpose practical considerations applicable taxation art conveyancing touchstone mind said dissenters purpose statute breadth language seem consequence particular conveyancers device particular string decedent selected hold suspense ultimate disposition property moment death determining whether taxable transfer becomes complete death look substance form however label device means gift rendered incomplete donor death page page majority louis trust company cases practicalities less significance formal categories property law grantor death majority said helvering louis trust supra put end best mere possibility reverter extinguishing say converting merely possible utter impossibility precisely mode argument rejected klein supra asked accept three decisions constituting coherent body law apply distinctions trusts us nos helvering hallock decedent created trust separation agreement giving income wife life provision anne lamson hallock shall die event within trust shall terminate said trustee shall pay party first part living accrued income remaining said trust fund shall deliver forthwith party first part principal said trust fund event said party first part shall living event payment delivery shall made levitt hallock helen hallock respectively son daughter party first part share share alike settlor died divorced wife life beneficiary survived circuit appeals held trust instrument conveyed interest decedent subject subsequent left nothing mere possibility reverter commissioner internal revenue hallock rothensies huston decedent agreement conveyed property trust income paid prospective wife life subject following disposition principal trust said rae spektor shall die lifetime said george uber pay principal accumulated income thereof unto said george uber fee free clear trust trust said rae spektor marriage shall survive said george uber pay principal accumulated income unto said rae rae fee free clear trust uber outlived husband died circuit appeals deemed becker louis trust supra controlling inclusion trust corpus gross estate finally bryant helvering testator provided payment trust income wife life upon death settlor survive instrument executed continued death survivor said ida bryant party first part unless trust shall modified revoked hereinafter provided convey transfer pay principal trust fund executors administrators estate party hereto first part provision giving decedent wife jointly lives either death power modify alter revoke instrument wife survived husband died board tax appeals allowed commissioner include decedent gross estate value reversionary interest board held grantor reserved appeal taxpayer circuit appeals sustained determination terms grants differ detail one another three differ formulas conveyance used klein louis trust cases therefore becomes important inquire whether technical forms interests contingent upon death cast control decision becomes necessary determine whether differing terms conveyance issue approximate closely used klein case therefore governed greater verbal resemblance saved tax louis trust cases essay linguistic refinement still embarrass existing intricacies might demonstrate verbal ingenuity hardly strengthen rational foundations law law contingent vested remainders full casuistries great diversities among several conveyancing significance like grants sometimes state conflicting lines decision one series ignoring attempts board tax appeals circuit courts appeal administer reference distinctions abundantly illustrate inevitable confusion one cases bar reveals vividly snares inevitably await attempt base estate tax law art conveyancing connection ascertainment death duties errors connecticut defined nature interest decedent case retained inter vivos transfer bryant hackett yet nature interest connecticut law scope connecticut adjudication interest made subject lively controversy fore us importation distinctions controversies law property administration estate tax precludes fair workable tax system essentially interests judged point view wealth taxable depending upon elusive subtle casuistries may historic justification possess relevance tax purposes unwitty diversities law property derive medieval concepts necessity continuous seisin distinctions originated feudal economy land dominated social relations peculiarly irrelevant application tax measures largely directed toward intangible wealth real problem therefore determine whether adhere harmonizing principle construction whether multiply gossamer distinctions present cases three earlier ones freed distinctions introduced louis trust cases klein case furnishes harmonizing principle doctrine stare decisis compel us accept tions made louis trust cases starting points still finer distinctions spun tenuosities surviving feudal law think think klein case rejected presupposition distinctions fiscal judgments demands recognize stare decisis embodies important social policy represents element continuity law rooted psychologic need satisfy reasonable expectations stare decisis principle policy mechanical formula adherence latest decision however recent questionable adherence involves collision prior doctrine embracing scope intrinsically sounder verified experience louis trust cases rules decision around accretion time response affairs substantial interests established conjunction circumstances requires perpetuation must regard deviations louis trust decisions klein doctrine us interests created maintained reliance cases mean imply inevitably empiric process construing tax legislation give rise estoppel responsible exercise judicial process fact cases us settlements made settlors died louis trust decisions want specific congressional repudiations louis trust cases serve implied instruction congress us reconsider light new experience whether decisions conjunction klein case make dissonance doctrine require persuasive circumstances enveloping congressional silence debar doctrines explain cause congress congress sheds light venture speculative unrealities congress may attention directed undesirable decision indication louis trust cases even bill found way committee congress may attention directed number reasons may moved treasury stay hand certainly inaction treasury hardly operate controlling administrative practice acquiescence tantamount estoppel barring examination distinctions drawn various considerations parliamentary tactics strategy might suggested reasons inaction treasury congress sufficient indicate walk quicksand try find absence corrective legislation controlling legal principle unlike house beginning rejected doctrine disability whatever else may said want congressional action modify legislation result louis trust cases hardly urged son congressional approval distinctions louis trust klein cases four members give assent imputing congress hypothetical recognition coherence klein louis trust cases evade responsibility reconsidering light experience validity distinctions created problem rejecting settled statutory construction real problem whether principle shall prevail later misapplications surely bound reason considerations underlie stare decisis persevere distinctions taken application statute examination appear consonant neither purposes statute conception therefore reject untenable diversities taken louis trust cases applying klein drastically eat principle cases professed accept adhere nos judgments reversed judgment affirmed chief justice concurs result upon ground cases controlled decision klein justice roberts certainly distinction fact transaction considered klein review helvering louis union trust company becker louis union trust company courts board tax appeals treasury found difficulty observing distinction specific cases believe one substance merely terminology dependent niceties conveyancing recondite doctrines ancient property law wrong still think judgments nos affirmed reversed rule interpretation adopted louis union trust company cases followed two reasons first rule indicated decisions one applicable circumstances disclosed early progressively developed applied board tax appeals lower federal courts decision mccormick burnet since followed tribunals less fifty cases set aside history secondly rule contrary treasury regulation indeed accord regulations subject subsequently embodied specific regulation background congress three times reenacted law without amending respect matter issue settled doctrine reenactment statute construed without alteration renders construction part statute ignored observed revenue act lays tax upon transfer net estate decedent estate defined embrace value property real personal tangible intangible less certain deductions time death treasury department stated earliest regulations statute also includes property rights existing decedent lifetime passing estate treasury regulations earliest one force applicable relevant sections successive revenue acts defining estate decedent treasury used value vested remainder included gross estate nothing included however account contingent remainder case contingency happen lifetime decedent interest consequently lapses death italics supplied next sentence anything included account life estate decedent repeated substance corresponding article subsequent regulations grandmother given life estate remainder another executor bound return anything account life estate respect nothing passes death estate simply ceases treasury never contended contrary however grandmother gave life estate remainder something death pass someone else intestate laws statute plainly taxes value interest thus transferred death grandmother gave interests succession specific persons provided outlive persons property pass chance receive enjoy property receive pass part estate died beneficiaries named grandmother death deprive chance chance pass anyone else tax laid supposed value contingent interest chance chance death pass intestate laws another understand government ever denied subsection lays different rule respecting similar interests created irrevocable deed agreement decedent subsection directs shall included gross estate value time decedent death interest property decedent time made transfer take effect possession enjoyment death excluding sales adequate consideration transfer take effect within meaning statute shifting possession enjoyment decedent living persons fact terms gift bring effect decedent death immaterial fact something may happen respect beneficial enjoyment property conditioned upon decedent death irrelevant long something shifting possession beneficial enjoyment decedent made clear reinecke northern trust makes present irrevocable transfer trust conditioned shall receive income life death principal shall go legally invested principal life estate ceases death nothing passes tax imposed statute transfer case similar life estate given grandmother may heiner hand creates estate years life retaining remaining beneficial interest property whether terms grant terms intestate law remainder passes someone else death passage renders transfer taxable klein supra transfer property irrevocably provision shall enjoyed successively various persons life go absolutely named person shall outlive person property shall come back dies lifetime person question merely lost chance beneficial ownership property may revert chance pass interstate laws transfer become effective death shifting interest tax imposed mccormick burnet supra helvering louis union trust company supra governing principles indicated early thereafter developed application specific cases consistent line authorities may heiner supra held transfer trust income payable transferor husband life death transferor life remainder children subject tax transfer intended take effect possession enjoyment death said page page death may interest property held trust deed passed living title thereto definitely fixed trust deed interest therein possessed immediately prior death obliterated event italics supplied dp noted equivalent treasury statement supra interest lapses death decision indistinguishable principle louis union trust company cases instant cases said serves distinguish klein case mccormick burnet followed may heiner supra held neither reservation grantor life estate remainders provision reverter case beneficiaries die lifetime grantor made gifts transfers intended take effect possession enjoyment grantor death circuit appeals commissioner urged provision payment trust estate settlor case survived beneficiaries rendered transfer taxable dealt length point sustained view commissioner internal revenue mccormick commissioner made contention overruled upon authority may heiner supra came two louis union trust company cases decided upon authority may heiner mccormick burnet supra finally mccormick case followed bingham since opinion appears treat louis cases origin principle announced important emphasize fact rule settled early note decisions rendered prior louis cases seven intervening may heiner supra louis cases board tax appeals reached conclusion announced louis cases board action affirmed four four decisions circuit courts appeal effect practically reliance placed upon shukert allen reinecke northern trust company may heiner mccormick burnet supra thus question came louis cases substantial body authority following applying heiner mccormick cases since louis cases decided principle went repeatedly applied board tax appeals courts board followed cases less seventeen instances record courts louis cases followed fourteen cases government sought review none except presented asked overrule decisions ever instance doctrine stare decisis govern aside obvious hardship involved treating taxpayers present cases differently many others whose cases decided closed accordance settled rule weightier considerations judgments rendered disappoint expectations acted reliance upon uniform construction statute federal tribunals upset precedents must necessarily shake confidence bar public stability rulings courts make impossible inferior tribunals adjudicate controversies reliance decisions nullify fifty decisions five stood decade order change mere rule statutory construction seems altogether unwise unjustified exertion power shall point necessity action still open congress change rule amendment statute deems action necessary public interest revenue act page imposes tax upon value net estate decedent page provides method determining value gross estate subsections require inclusion gross estate interests otherwise might held form part decedent estate pass others death subsections sweep interests gross estate order forestall tax avoidance successor analogous sections earlier acts predecessor similar sections later acts subsection amended successive revenue acts result treasury experience enforcement law congress time time thought necessary extend scope subsection interest efficient administration within constitutional limits extension matter legislative policy congress alone familiar practice congress amend statute obviate construction given courts legislative history demonstrates congress elected make amendment meet construction placed upon louis cases may heiner supra decided treasury dissatisfied decision three later cases attacked ruling amongst mccormick burnet supra announced judgments cases march reaffirming may heiner supra following day congress adopted joint resolution amending tax transfer reservation life estate grantor omitted deal contingent interest reserved grantor possibility reverter remaining involved heiner mccormick see hassett welch omission significant may argued haste preparing passing amendment point overlooked joint resolution reenacted revenue act without alteration cover point revenue act amended revenue act change stood day louis cases decided announced opinion white poor construing act order make section apply situation disclosed congress june act amended preclude construction given congress let stand construed louis cases three revenue acts since none wording altered life doctrine often announced reenactment statute uniformly construed courts adoption congress construction given legislative history conclusive statute stands means said means little weight given argument government treasury applied congress alteration section difficulty wording satisfactory amendment moment reflection show easy phrase amendment whatever reason failure amend whether hesitancy part treasury recommend action satisfaction congress construction put upon section mere inadvertence fact remains section reenacted courts construction plain read shown matter quoted treasury regulations affecting estate contingent interest included taxable estate light construction estate tax provisions reenacted amended bar counsel government stated always view treasury article question applied application concerned treasury thought matter regulations issued guide taxpayers complying act section entirety subsections intended contradict latter supplement former gross estate computed according section whole hard understand taxpayer expected discriminate contingent interest decedent grandmother similar interest absolute deed executed inter vivos one pass decedent death neither decisions louis cases treasury rendered regulations even explicit regulations revised promulgated october new article inserted statutory phrase transfer intended take effect possession enjoyment death includes transfer decedent whereby extent beneficial title property legal title thereto remained decedent time death passing thereof subject condition precedent death hand result transfer remained decedent time death title interest transferred property part property included gross estate merely reason provision instrument transfer effect property revert decedent upon predecease person persons happening event theretofore doubt entertained must vanished regulation force congress reenacted interpreted said principle reenactment statute treasury regulations interpreted given sense embodiment interpretation law reenacted surely principle avoided government argues cause treasury felt bound interpret reason decisions fact make application principle urgent justice mcreynolds joins opinion footnotes stat amended revenue act stat value gross estate decedent shall determined including value time death property real personal tangible intangible wherever situated extent interest therein decedent time made transfer trust otherwise contemplation intended take effect possession enjoyment death time made transfer trust otherwise retained life period ascertainable without reference death period fact end death possession enjoyment right income property right either alone conjunction person designate persons shall possess enjoy property income therefrom except case bona fide sale adequate full consideration money money worth transfer material part property nature final disposition distribution thereof made decedent within two years prior death without consideration shall unless shown contrary deemed made contemplation death within meaning title subchapter petitioner brief klein pp indication influence klein supra upon lower courts may found sargent white union trust certiorari denied cf commissioner schwarz see example attempts board tax appeals deal peculiarities new york law field vested contingent remainders elizabeth wallace louis raegner cases limitations probably law held new york statutory rule cf commissioner schwarz flora bonney cf lyeth hoey see paul effect federal taxation local rules property selected studies federal taxation series pp developments note see example fearne contingent remainders pp gray rule perpetuities ed pp vii holdsworth history english law et seq simes future interests confusion apt engendered judicial forays field well illustrated use term reverter majority helvering louis union trust supra possibility reverter traditionally defined interest remaining grantor conveyed determinable fee definition thought relation reversionary interest grantor transferred either vested contingent remainder fee see gray rule perpetuities ed unmindful amendments estate tax law decisions gave rise thus revenue act stat page congress undid construction gave estate tax law another connection decision rendered day louis trust cases cf white poor case arose event fact congressional action dealing one problem silent different problems created louis trust cases imply controlling acceptance congress cases joint resolution march stat page congress displaced construction put upon cases wherein held reservation decedent life estate property conveyed inter vivos constitute sufficient postponement remainder bring grantor gross estate may heiner burnet northern trust morsman burnet mccormick burnet speculative arguments may drawn ad hoc legislation affecting one set decisions want legislation modify another set decisions dealing somewhat different though cognate problem well illustrated remedial amendment may urged considerable plausibility congress principle already rejected general attitude underlying louis trust cases illustrated fact cases majority part least relied upon congressionally discarded may heiner doctrine whatever may scope doctrine statute impliedly enacts settled judicial construction placed upon statute doctrine relevance present problem since decisions louis trust cases congress enacted amendments congress made provisions connection situations made without congress rational canons legislative significance compilation internal revenue laws form internal revenue code stat internal revenue code impliedly enacted law particular decision light later experience seen create confusion conflict application settled principle internal revenue legislation unlike situation cases national lead murphy oil burnet conjunction long uniform administrative construction subsequent reenactments ambiguous statute give ground implying legislative adoption construction see preface internal revenue code stat iii compare smiley holm warner goltra since treasury amended regulations effort conform administrative practice compulsions louis trust cases deemed bound change art reg ed cf estate sanford commissioner internal revenue decided november london street tramways london county council rule otherwise privy council read bishop lincoln role precedent english law see inter alia yorke life lord chancellor hardwicke pp goodhart precedent english continental law holdsworth case law ibid lord wright westminster council southern ry allen law making pp et seq secs stat pages regulations art regulations art regulations art regulations art regulations art shukert allen wheeler commissioner duke commissioner peabody commissioner dunham commissioner taylor commissioner wallace commissioner bonney commissioner commissioner duke affirmed equally divided commissioner wallace commissioner dunham commissioner bonney commissioner austin tait safe deposit trust tait safe deposit trust helvering helmholz able find one case decided contra commissioner schwarz taft commissioner guaranty trust company commissioner kneeland commissioner kienbusch commissioner schneider commissioner van sicklen commissioner patterson commissioner rushmore commissioner bryant commissioner wetherill commissioner mitchell commissioner stone commissioner harter bank commissioner white commissioner donnelly commissioner pyeatt commissioner dravo commissioner old colony trust myers magruder chase national bank commissioner brooks bullard commissioner welch hassett nichols mackay commissioner commissioner grosse commissioner hallock commissioner kaplan cir rothensies cassell corning commissioner rheinstrom commissioner revenue act stat revenue act stat revenue act stat page revenue act stat page internal revenue code part internal revenue code helvering city bank farmers trust stat stat page house report stat revenue act stat revenue act stat internal revenue code part see note supra