# St. Louis Union Trust Co. v. Commissioner > United States Board of Tax Appeals · January 16, 1931 · 21 B.T.A. 1201 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4491302 ## Case - **Full name:** ST. LOUIS UNION TRUST CO. AND BETTIE B. BROWN, EXECUTORS, ESTATE OF GEORGE WARREN BROWN, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE - **Court:** United States Board of Tax Appeals - **Decided:** January 16, 1931 - **Citations:** 21 B.T.A. 1201; 1931 BTA LEXIS 2230 - **Precedential status:** Published - **Opinion:** Dissent by Smith - **Judges:** Smith, Mtjrdook - **Cited by:** 3 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4491302 ## Opinion text Smith, dissenting: I dissent from so much of the opinion of the Board as disallows the deduction from the gross estate of $517,231.61 representing the residuary bequest to testamentary trustees to be used by those trustees for the purposes stated in the will of the decedent and in disallowing the deduction from the gross estate- of $66,000, representing the value of 750 shares of stock bequeathed to the Union Methodist Episcopal Church. The deductions are disallowed upon the ground that the bequests by possibility might be used for benevolent purposes as distinguished from charitable purposes; The benefi *1214 cent purposes of Congress (cf. Lederer v. Stockton, 260 U. S. 3 ) in permitting the deduction from the gross estate of bequests for charitable purposes should not be defeated by such a narrow construction of the taxing act. The income and principal of the George Warren Fund was to be devoted by the trustees— to such benevolent purposes, as in their [trustees’] opinion, will constitute a fitting testimonial or memorial for me, and in some degree, extend my usefulness and helpfulness to others. The trustees actually distributed the money to exclusively educational and charitable institutions. In my opinion the amounts are legal deductions from the gross estate. Cf. Eagan v. Commissioner, 43 Fed. (2d) 881, and Union & New Haven Trust Co. v. Eaton, 20 Fed. (2d) 419. --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4491302. Public record. Not legal advice.