In the 1940 case of Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Estate of Enright et al., the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a trust fund established by a decedent for his wife and children could be included in his gross estate for federal tax purposes. The decedent had transferred all rights to income from the trust during his lifetime but retained power to revoke or modify it at any time before death. The court ruled that since he maintained control over disposition of principal and income until death, these assets were part of his gross estate under Section 302(d) and (e) of the Revenue Act 1926. Therefore, they were subject to federal taxation upon death despite being placed in a revocable trust.

In the dissenting opinion for Helvering v. Estate of Enright, Justice Black argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings and misinterpreted tax law. He contended that a life estate should not be considered part of an individual's gross estate if they did not retain any beneficial interest in it at their time of death. In this case, he believed Mrs. Enright had given up all her rights to income from her husband’s property when she transferred them into trust funds for her children during her lifetime; therefore, these assets should not have been included in calculating taxes on her estate after death. Furthermore, he pointed out inconsistencies between this ruling and earlier cases where similar situations were treated differently by the court which could lead to confusion about how such laws are applied.