2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*242 An appropriate order will be issued.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
WELLS, CHIEF JUDGE: The instant case is before us on respondent's motion for partial summary judgment pursuant to
Summary judgment may be granted if the pleadings and other materials demonstrate that no genuine issue exists as to any material fact and that a decision may be entered as a matter2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*243 of law. See
For the purpose of ruling on the instant motion only, we adopt the following facts set forth in the parties' moving papers. On December 18, 1990, Morton Harper (decedent) created a revocable inter vivos trust (trust). The trust instrument named decedent as original trustee and designated his children Michael A. Harper (Mr. Harper) and Lynn H. Factor (Ms. Factor) as successor trustees. The assets held by the trust consisted of marketable securities and mutual funds, plus a note receivable2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*244 for a $ 450,000 loan which the decedent had made to an unrelated individual (the portfolio). Decedent reserved a life estate in both the income and corpus of the trust and directed that upon his death the assets should be distributed 40 percent to Mr. Harper and 60 percent to Ms. Factor.
On January 1, 1994, decedent, Mr. Harper, and Ms. Factor entered into an agreement entitled, Agreement for Limited Partnership for Harper Financial Co., L.P. (partnership agreement) that created a California limited partnership. Under the terms of the partnership agreement, Mr. Harper and Ms. Factor became general partners with interests in the partnership of 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent respectively, and the trust became the sole limited partner with an interest of 99 percent in the partnership. The trust made an initial capital contribution of the portfolio to the partnership.
On July 1, 1994, the parties entered into an amendment to the partnership agreement that divided the trust's limited partnership interest into two classes of limited partnership interests, consisting of: (1) A Class A limited partnership interest of 39 percent which the trust retained, and (2) a Class B limited partnership2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*245 interest of 60 percent which the trust assigned to Ms. Factor and Mr. Harper.
Section 20.1 of the partnership agreement provides that:
The Partnership shall be dissolved upon the earlier of:
(a) January 1, 2034.
(b) The retirement, withdrawal, death or insanity
of any General Partner or any other event or condition,
other than removal, which, pursuant to the Act and
unless otherwise provided in this Agreement, results in
a General Partner ceasing to be a General Partner,
unless (i) at the time there is at least one remaining
General Partner to continue the business of the
Partnership and such remaining General Partner chooses
to do so, or (ii) all the Partners, as provided in
Paragraph 12.5(l), above, agree in writing within 60
days thereof to continue the business of the
Partnership and, if necessary, to the admission of one
or more additional General Partners.
(c) An election to dissolve the Partnership made
in writing by the General Partners and the Limited
Partners, all as provided in Paragraph 12.5(f), 2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*246 above.
(d) The failure to elect, as provided in Paragraph
12.5(m), above, a successor General Partner within 60
days from and after removal of the last General
Partner.
Section 13.2 of the partnership agreement provides that:
No General Partner shall have the right to withdraw
from the Partnership without the consent of the Limited
Partners.
On his timely filed Federal Gift Tax return for 1994, decedent reported a gift of a 0.4-percent general partnership interest and a 24-percent Class B limited partnership interest in Harper Financial Co., L.P., to Mr. Harper with values at the date of the gifts of $ 6,400 and $ 230,400, respectively. Decedent also reported a gift of a 0.6-percent general partnership interest and a 36-percent Class B limited partnership interest in the partnership to Ms. Factor with values as of the date of the gifts of $ 9,600 and $ 345,600, respectively.
On February 1, 1995, decedent died. On the Federal Estate Tax return filed for decedent's estate on November 2, 1995, decedent's estate reported a 39-percent Class A limited partnership interest in the partnership with2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*247 a value at the date of death of $ 410,100.
We must decide whether, as respondent contends, the restrictions on the right to liquidate the partnership contained in the partnership agreement are applicable restrictions within the meaning of
Disregarded. --
(1) In general. -- For purposes of this subtitle, if --
(A) there is a transfer of an interest in a
corporation or partnership to (or for the benefit of) a
member of the transferor's family, and
(B) the transferor and members of the transferor's
family hold, 2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*248 immediately before the transfer, control
of the entity, any applicable restriction shall be
disregarded in determining the value of the transferred
interest.
(2) Applicable restriction. -- For purposes of this
subsection, the term "applicable restriction" means any
restriction --
(A) which effectively limits the ability of the
corporation or partnership to liquidate, and
(B) with respect to which either of the following
applies:
(i) The restriction lapses, in whole or in
part, after the transfer referred to in paragraph
(1).
(ii) The transferor or any member of the
transferor's family, either alone or collectively,
has the right after such transfer to remove, in
whole or in part, the restriction.
(3) Exceptions. -- The term "applicable restriction"
shall not include --
* 2000 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 242">*249 * * * * * *
(B) any restriction imposed, or required to be
imposed, by any Federal or State law.
(b) Applicable restriction defined. An applicable
restriction is a limitation on the ability to liquidate the
entity (in whole or in part) that is more restrictive than
the limitations that would apply under the State law
generally applicable to the entity in the absence of the
restriction. * * *
In our recent opinion in
Accordingly, we hold that the limitations on liquidation contained in the partnership agreement are not applicable restrictions within the meaning of
To reflect the foregoing,
An appropriate order will be issued.
1. Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the taxable years in issue, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.↩