- 5 -
of the parties' dispute with respect to the estate of Elizabeth
Davenport. Respondent contends that Exhibit AE was introduced to
show that only 1,610 shares of Hondo stock were included in the
estate of Elizabeth Davenport for Federal tax purposes and that
Exhibit AF was introduced to show that respondent conceded the
joint ownership issue with respect to the estate of Elizabeth
Davenport. Additionally, one of the fiduciaries who signed the
estate tax return, and prosecuted the petition, on behalf of that
estate, namely Patricia Vestal, is the personal representative of
Birnie's estate.
The obvious purpose of rule 408 of the Federal Rules of
Evidence is to promote settlements. Evidence of settlement
negotiations or of other attempts to compromise a claim is
inadmissible if offered to show liability for the claim or that
the claim is invalid. Fed. R. Evid. 408; Wentz v. Commissioner,
105 T.C. 1, 5-6 (1995).
We agree with respondent that Exhibits AE and AF were not
offered to show liability for any claim against the estate of
Elizabeth Davenport, nor were they being offered to show the
invalidity of any such claim. Consequently, we find that rule
408 does not preclude the admission of those exhibits.
Alternatively, petitioner argues that Exhibit AE should be
excluded pursuant to section 7121, which provides, inter alia:
SEC. 7121(a). Authorization.--The Secretary is
authorized to enter into an agreement in writing with
any person relating to the liability of such person (or
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