- 15 - petitioners' garage. Respondent, however, argues that the cabinets installed by Mr. Lawton did not replace any cabinets damaged by the flood. Mrs. Daniel testified that the flood caused damage to wall cabinets in their garage. The record reveals that Mr. Lawton was hired to install new storage cabinets in petitioners' garage. Mr. Lawton stated in an affidavit that he did not remove any cabinets from the garage, and did not see any signs of water damage. There is, however, no evidence in the record that Mr. Lawton was responsible for removing the damaged cabinets or cleaning up the water damage. Based on Mrs. Daniel's credible testimony, we find that the storage cabinets installed in petitioners' garage replaced cabinets damaged by the flood. We therefore find that the amount paid by petitioners to Mr. Lawton to install the storage cabinets in the garage is includable in the determination of the amount of the casualty loss. Mr. Daniel testified that the trees claimed on the return as a loss consisted of one "special type palm tree" and a number of fruit trees. Petitioners' adjacent neighbor, Gregory Lamar Kennedy, testified that a tree that was about 30 feet in height was damaged by the flood and was cut down "roughly a couple of months after the flood." Based on Mr. Daniel's credible testimony and Mr. Kennedy's corroborating testimony, we find that the flood caused petitioners to sustain a loss because of the destruction of several trees on their property.Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011