64.1-161 - Apportionment required.
§ 64.1-161. Apportionment required.
A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, whenever it appearsupon any settlement of accounts or in any other appropriate action orproceeding that an executor, administrator, curator, trustee or other personacting in a fiduciary capacity has paid an estate tax levied or assessedunder the provisions of any estate tax law of the Commonwealth, any otherstate or the United States heretofore or hereafter enacted, upon or withrespect to any property required to be included in the gross estate of adecedent under the provisions of any such law, the amount of the tax so paid,together with any interest and penalty required by the taxing authority to bepaid, shall be prorated among the persons interested in the estate to whomsuch property is or may be transferred or to whom any benefit accrues. Suchapportionment shall be made in the proportion that the value of the property,interest or benefit of each such person bears to the total value of theproperty, interests and benefits received by all such persons interested inthe estate. However, in making such proration each person shall have thebenefit of any exemptions, deductions and exclusions allowed by law inrespect of the person or the property passing to him and in cases where atrust is created, or other provision made whereby any person is given aninterest in income, or an estate for years, or for life, or other temporaryinterest or estate in any property or fund, the tax on such temporaryinterest or estate shall be charged against and paid out of the corpus ofsuch property or fund without apportionment between temporary interests orestates and remainders thereafter, and the interest may be charged againsteither the temporary interest, estate, or corpus, or partially against thetemporary interest, estate, or corpus, as determined by the fiduciary payingthe tax, provided that this determination be made so as to fairly balance allinterests in the property or fund.
B. The amount of tax paid on or with respect to property included in thedecedent's gross estate under § 2044 of the Internal Revenue Code, asamended, or any successor provision relating to certain property for whichthe marital deduction was previously allowed, shall be the excess of (i) thetotal estate tax levied or assessed under the provisions of the estate taxlaws of the Commonwealth, any other state and the United States over (ii) theestate tax that would have been levied or assessed under those provisions ifthe § 2044 property had not been included in the gross estate. The tax paidupon or with respect to the § 2044 property shall be prorated according tosubsection A of this section as if no other estate tax were payable under thelaws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, any other state and the United Statesand as if the § 2044 property constituted the entire gross estate; but itshall be prorated only among the persons interested in the estate to whomsuch property is or may be transferred or to whom any benefit of suchproperty accrues. The tax determined under (ii) above shall be proratedaccording to subsection A of this section as if no other estate tax werepayable under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, any other state andthe United States and as if the § 2044 property were not included in thegross estate. This subsection shall apply only to estates of persons dying onor after July 1, 1986.
C. The personal representative of an estate which for tax purposes includes §2044 property owes a duty of good faith and fair dealing to all personsinterested in the estate to whom or for whom the § 2044 property may betransferred or held. The duty of good faith includes, but is not limited to aduty to keep such persons or their designated representative reasonablyinformed as to the contents of the returns to be filed and as to alladministrative and judicial proceedings that concern the taxes to be paidwith respect to the § 2044 property, and to provide copies of the relevantportions of all returns to be filed with respect to such taxes. Therepresentative of such persons shall be invited to attend any administrativeconference or proceeding wherein valuation issues may be discussed whichwould have a bearing on the taxes to be paid with respect to the § 2044property. This subsection shall apply only to estates of persons for which afederal estate tax return is required to be filed on or after July 1, 1994.
(Code 1950, § 64-151; 1952, c. 294; 1954, c. 664; 1968, c. 656; 1979, c. 559;1986, c. 399; 1994, c. 917; 1997, c. 254.)