A U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia,
recently engaged in an ontological thought experiment reminiscent
of the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum
mechanics.The case centered on an estate's right to seek
reimbursement of estate taxes from recipients of non-probate
assets.1 The result was intellectually rigorous to the
point of defying expectation and defiantly producing a
conventionally illogical outcome.
In summary, the court concluded that if a state statute for will
construction posits a world in which your ex-wife predeceased you,
then your estate can't seek reimbursement from her for payment
of estate taxes, even though in (your) reality she received
non-probate assets whose value was included in your taxable
estate—except with respect to life insurance proceeds, in
which case there's a specific federal statute that puts you
back on Earth-One, where your ex-wife still exists and must
reimburse your estate.
