Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Church

Decided January 17, 1949. Hugo Lafayette Black delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 5 · 335 U.S. 632 (1949) · Cited 281 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• May v. Heiner · 281 U.S. 238 (1930)
• Hassett v. Welch · 303 U.S. 303 (1938)
• Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Co. v. Rothensies · 324 U.S. 108 (1945)
• Reinecke v. Northern Trust Co. · 278 U.S. 339 (1929)
• Commissioner v. Estate of Field · 324 U.S. 113 (1945)
• Klein v. United States · 283 U.S. 231 (1931)
• Cyrus H. McCormick v. David Burnet · 283 U.S. 784 (1931)
• Morsman v. Burnet · 283 U.S. 783 (1931)
• Helvering v. St. Louis Union Trust Co. · 296 U.S. 39 (1935)
• Helvering v. Stuart · 317 U.S. 154 (1942)
• Goldstone v. United States · 325 U.S. 687 (1945)
• Becker v. St. Louis Union Trust Co. · 296 U.S. 48 (1935)
• Blair v. Commissioner · 300 U.S. 5 (1937)
• Apex Hosiery Co. v. Leader · 310 U.S. 469 (1940)
• Heiner v. Donnan · 285 U.S. 312 (1932)
• Milliken v. United States · 283 U.S. 15 (1931)
• Smith v. Shaughnessy · 318 U.S. 176 (1943)
• Helvering v. Griffiths · 318 U.S. 371 (1943)
• United States v. United Mine Workers of America · 330 U.S. 258 (1947)
• Hines v. Davidowitz · 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• United States v. American Trucking Associations · 310 U.S. 534 (1940)
• Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Sheets · 313 U.S. 100 (1941)
• Screws v. United States · 325 U.S. 91 (1945)
• Chater v. Carter · 238 U.S. 572 (1915)
• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• Phelps Dodge Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board · 313 U.S. 177 (1941)
• Brooklyn Savings Bank v. O'Neil · 324 U.S. 697 (1945)
• Hecht Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 321 (1944)
• Palmer v. Hoffman · 318 U.S. 109 (1943)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. Byrum · 408 U.S. 125 (1972)
• United States v. Estate of Grace · 395 U.S. 316 (1969)
• United States v. O'MALLEY · 383 U.S. 627 (1966)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. · 490 U.S. 477 (1989)
• Indian Towing Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 61 (1955)
• James v. United States · 366 U.S. 213 (1961)
• Schwegmann Bros. v. Calvert Distillers Corp. · 341 U.S. 384 (1951)
• Louisiana Power & Light Co. v. City of Thibodaux · 360 U.S. 25 (1959)
• National Mutual Insurance v. Tidewater Transfer Co. · 337 U.S. 582 (1949)
• Propper v. Clark · 337 U.S. 472 (1949)
• Barrett v. United States · 423 U.S. 212 (1976)
• Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation · 362 U.S. 99 (1960)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).