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In Estate of Curry v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 540, 544 (1980),
the decedent, who was an attorney, executed an agreement with
another attorney, which provided that the decedent would receive
a stated percentage of any attorney's fees that might be awarded
in a list of docketed cases pending before the Indian Claims
Commission (Commission). Any award of attorney's fees in these
cases was contingent upon an ultimate recovery on behalf of the
plaintiffs and would be measured by the extent of the recovery.
At the time of the decedent's death, 13 of the cases remained in
various unresolved stages of litigation before the Commission.
Following the decedent's death, the estate received attorney's
fees in connection with this litigation. The Commissioner
determined that the contractual right to share in future
attorney's fees was an interest in property includable in the
decedent's gross estate.
In Estate of Curry v. Commissioner, supra at 545, the
taxpayer argued that the contingent legal fees were not
18(...continued)
After trial, the District Court submitted the issue of
valuation to the jury, which found that the claim had no value at
the time the decedent died. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit reversed, holding that there was no rational basis for
the jury's finding. The Court of Appeals stated: "When * * *
[the decedent] died, his 'property' included the claim for refund
of federal income taxes." Id. at 215. The Court of Appeals
determined that postdeath facts and circumstances were to be
taken into account for purposes of valuing the estate's claim and
found the amount for which the claim was eventually settled to be
"highly indicative", but not determinative, of such value. Id.
at 218.
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