Taxation: Federal Income Tax: Divorce Property Settlement as a Taxable Event

Abstract

This article addresses an important United States Supreme Court decision – United States v. Davis, 370 U.S. 65 (1962). In Davis the Court held that a spouse transferring appreciated property to the other spouse upon divorce realizes taxable gain to the extent that the value of the property exceeds the transferor’s basis. The article concludes that the Court’s analysis and result are sound, but that the result is a financial burden that can greatly complicate divorce property settlements. The article proposes enactment of a nonrecognition provision that would defer taxation of the appreciation until the transferee disposes of the property to an outsider.