Jamie Is Terminally Ill and Does Not Expect to Live

Essay

Jamie is terminally ill and does not expect to live much longer. Pondering the consequences of her estate, she decides how to allocate her property to her nephews. She makes a gift of depreciated property (i.e., adjusted basis exceeds fair market value) to Will, a gift of appreciated property (i.e., fair market value exceeds adjusted basis) to Jim, and leaves appreciated property to Sam in her will. Each of the properties has the same fair market value. From an income tax perspective, which nephew is her favorite?