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in the absence of a provision "specifically allowing the personal
representatives to act in contravention of" Wis. Stat. Ann. sec.
701.20(5)(a), administration expenses should be charged to
principal. In so holding, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals cited
with approval In re Enright, 436 N.E.2d 681, 683 (Ill. App. Ct.
1982), wherein the Illinois appellate court reached the same
conclusion in respect of a provision analogous to Wis. Stat. Ann.
sec. 701.20(5)(a) in the Illinois Principal and Income Act, Ill.
Rev. Stat. ch. 30, par. 163 (1979).3
In view of this conclusion, petitioner's further contention
that the personal representative's fee is an "ordinary expense"
chargeable to income under Wis. Stat. Ann. sec. 701.20(5)(b)
falls by the wayside. In any event, the specific mandate of Wis.
Stat. Ann. sec. 701.20(5)(a) that administration expenses are to
be charged to principal cannot be modified by general language
dealing with "other ordinary expenses". Cf. Matter of Estate of
Pirsch, supra at 319, which rejected the contention that section
857.03, Wis. Stat. Ann. (West 1991), which enumerates the powers
and duties of personal representatives, operated as a
modification of the specific mandate of Wis. Stat. Ann. sec.
701.20(5)(a).
3 See also Estate of Richardson v. Commissioner, 89 T.C. 1193,
1204 (1987), stating "administration expenses * * * are usually
charged against the principal of an estate". We note that the
provisions of the Wisconsin and Illinois Acts are substantially
the same as those of the Uniform Principal and Income Act.
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