Helvering v. Grinnell’s Empirical Analysis
294 U.S. 153 · 1935
Citation profile
66 federal appellate · 9 district · 22 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 185 later decisions (8 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 1997 · most notably Helvering v. Safe Deposit & Trust Co. (1942), Rogers' Estate v. Helvering (1943)
66 federal appellate · 9 district · 22 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Appellate journey
reviewedGrinnell v. Commissioner (from Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Chase Nat Bank of City of New York v. United States · Tyler v. United States · Barker Painting Co. v. Local No. 734, Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, & Paperhangers · In Re the Appraisal, Under the Transfer Tax Act, of the Estate of Lansing
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 185 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““(c) To the extent of any interest therein of which the decedent has at any time made a transfer, by trust or otherwise, in contemplation of or intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after his death, or of which he has at any time made a transfer, by trust or otherwise, under which he has retained for his life or for any period not ascertainable without reference to his death or for any period which does not in fact end before his death (1) the possession or enjoyment of, or the right to the income from, the property, or (2) the right, either alone or in conjunction with any person, to designate the persons who shall possess or enjoy the property or the income therefrom; except in case of a bona fide sale for an adequate and full consideration in money or money’s worth. Any transfer of a material part of his property in the nature of a final disposition or distribution thereof, made by the decedent within two years prior to his death without such consideration, shall, unless shown to the contrary, be deemed to have been made in contemplation of death within the meaning of this title.””
15 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“* * * But this [argument] involves the obviously self-destructive conclusion that an unsuccessful attempt to effectuate a thing required by the statute is the same as its consummation. The tax here does not fall upon the mere shifting of the economic benefits in property, but upon the shifting of those benefits by a particular method, — namely, by their “passing under a general power of appointment,” and not otherwise. Acceptance of the Government’s contention would strip the italicized word of all meaning.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“and the remainder was not disposed of but continued where it was. The attempt to execute the power was not effective because it did nothing. The exercise of a power which leaves everything as it was before is a mere form with no substance.'”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.