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Revisiting Byrum, Brant J. Hellwig

Scholarly Articles

In the landmark case of United States v. Byrum, the Supreme Court determined that a majority shareholder's retention of voting rights over stock transferred in trust did not cause the stock to be included in his gross estate under Section 2036(a)(1) or (a)(2). The Court grounded its decision in the fiduciary duty owed by the board of directors and the majority shareholder to exercise their discretion over corporate distributions to promote the best interests of the entity. Despite legislative action quickly reversing the Court's holding in Byrum, the case continued to influence decisions concerning the estate tax consequences of a …