In the United States v. Andrews, Executrix case of 1937, the Supreme Court examined whether a federal estate tax could be levied on an insurance policy's proceeds that were paid to a widow after her husband’s death. The deceased had taken out two life insurance policies and named his wife as beneficiary but retained the right to change beneficiaries or surrender the policies during his lifetime. After he died, she received $100,000 from these policies which was included in calculating his gross estate for taxation purposes under Section 302(g) of Revenue Act of 1926 by Commissioner of Internal Revenue. She contested this inclusion arguing it violated Fifth Amendment due process clause as there was no transfer at death since she already had vested rights in those proceeds when her husband was alive. The court ruled against Mrs. Andrews stating that while she did have certain rights over these funds before her husband's death (like suing if he changed beneficiaries), they weren't enough to prevent them from being considered part of his gross estate upon death because he still held significant control over them during his lifetime like ability to cash out or change beneficiaries anytime without needing any consent from anyone including Mrs.Andrews.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. Andrews, the justice argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings and interpretations of tax law. The justice believed that a life insurance policy should not be considered part of an individual's gross estate if it is payable to a named beneficiary other than the estate itself or its executor. This interpretation would mean that such policies are exempt from federal estate taxes under Section 302(g) of the Revenue Act of 1926, contrary to what was decided by the majority in this case. Furthermore, they disagreed with how broadly "transfers" were defined by their peers in relation to taxation upon death; arguing instead for a narrower understanding which would exclude certain types of property transfers from being taxed as part of an individual’s gross estate.