- 10 - than fair market value. Petitioner's claims were aimed at enlarging the amount of money to be ultimately distributed by the estate. These claims are analogous to those in Grabien v. Commissioner, 48 T.C. 750 (1967). In that case a taxpayer, who was a residuary legatee of 50 percent of his brother's estate, sued the executrix, alleging excessive fee payments and asking for an accounting. We denied a deduction for the attorney's fees paid for those actions because: Petitioner's interest in the estate was essentially a money claim dependent in amount on the amount of cash in the estate after the conversion to cash of the estate's assets and after allowance of all expenses of administration. A mere money claim of this sort is not property held for the production of income and petitioner never held the property for the production of income or otherwise until after the determination of the Probate Court with respect to the disputed extraordinary fees and distribution of the estate assets. The expense here in issue is analogous to an expense of perfecting or protecting title to property and not deductible as an expense of managing, maintaining, or conserving property. [Id. at 753; citations omitted.] Accordingly, we find the claims pursued by petitioner in the State court to be in essence either capital or personal in nature. We note that one of the allegations by petitioner in each of her two legal actions concerns the failure of the executors, for a period of time, to collect rent on the Chicago property and their concession of back rent upon the sale of the property, apparently to the lessee. Petitioners urge the Court to findPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
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