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legal title in the Woodbine land, buildings, and structures into
the joint names of Howard Berger and Alice Berger. Howard Berger
put the Woodbine real property in their joint names because he
believed that Alice Berger already had an interest in the
property by reason of their marriage. By the end of 1983, Alice
Berger knew that she was a joint owner of Woodbine. After Howard
Berger transferred Woodbine into his and Alice Berger's joint
names, he thought that they were its joint owners.
Subsequent to the 1983 transfer, Alice Berger's signature,
or a copy thereof, appeared on deeds conveying cemetery spaces to
customers of Woodbine.
From 1979 through 1986, Howard Berger managed and operated
Woodbine and regularly went to work there. During this period,
Alice Berger did not participate in the operation of Woodbine. In
1984, Howard Berger hired his son-in-law, Gregg Kunkowski, the
husband of his and Alice's daughter Julia, as a salesman for
Woodbine.
In 1984 Howard Berger began to construct a mausoleum on the
Woodbine property (Phase I) and to solicit customers and receive
deposits and installment payments for mausoleum crypts. The
deposits and installment payments received prior to completion of
Phase I were not recorded as income when received but were
recorded as deposits pending completion of the Phase I mausoleum.
The costs of construction of Phase I were not deducted as
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Last modified: May 25, 2011