In a decision entered on Wednesday, the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that multi-million dollar share of the estate of author Tom Clancy left to his widow was protected under estate-tax exemptions for widowed spouses. In Michelle Bandy v. Alexandra Clancy, the Maryland high court has decided — in a split 4-3 decision — that Tom Clancy’s widow will not be required to pay taxes on her approximately two-thirds of Tom Clancy’s $82 million estate. We described one aspect of the estate litigation dispute within the Clancy family in detail in an article a few years ago.
Tom Clancy died in October of 2013, and he was survived by his second wife, Alexandra Clancy and a minor child by that marriage, as well as four adult children from Mr. Clancy’s first marriage. When Tom Clancy died, he left a will, including amendments. The primary issue brought before the Maryland Court of Appeals related to the interpretation of the will with respect to the payment of estate taxes.
Ultimately, the Court of Appeals ruled that if the Family Trust, as described and created in Tom Clancy’s will, were to bear the burden of federal estate taxes at the time of Mr. Clancy’s death, the trust would be subject to imposition of federal estate taxes twice: once at the time of Mr. Clancy’s death and a second time when Mrs. Clancy died.
Thus, the Maryland Court of Appeals decided that
we hold that the property conveyed in the Family Trust as identified in Mr. Clancy’s Will and Second Codicil cannot be burdened by the payment of federal estate taxes.
An experienced tax or estates lawyer can advise you on the aspects of estate planning raised by this unusual Clancy-family case — how to structure one’s estate to minimize the impact of estate taxes and whom to chose as your estate’s personal representative. Additionally, an experience appellate attorney can help you with almost any type of appeal. The appeals attorneys, tax attorneys, and estate planning attorneys at Longman & Van Grack in Maryland, Virginia, and DC have years of experience dealing with these difficult, important, and personal decisions. If you would like to discuss the how our attorneys can help, contact us at (301) 291-5027 for a consultation in our offices in Bethesda, MD; Rockville, MD; Vienna, VA; or Washington, DC.