Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“ The remote possibility that the funds in the hands of the legatees might have to be returned no more prevented their being vested in possession and taxable than the possibility that a life estate might end at any moment prevented one that began before July 1, 1902, being taxed at its full value as fixed by the mortuary tables. ”

“ The interest was vested also in each case. The law uses familiar legal expressions in their familiar legal sense, and the distinction between a contingent interest and a vested interest subject to be divested is familia to the law. ”

“ In that case it was contended that the life estate was contingent so far as not actually enjoyed.
It is argued with regard to the trust for Florence Lester that the case stands differently because the life tenant received no income from it before July 1, 1902. But for the purposes of this act the interest in a fund transferred from an estate to a trustee for ascertained persons is vested in possession no less than when it is conveyed directly to them. See United States v. Fidelity Trust Co., supra. ”