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in a literal sense, an alter ego of the court); In re Watson's
Estate, 205 N.Y.S. 380, 381 (Surr. Ct.) (a temporary
administrator represents not only the interest of those taking
under the will, but, in the case of rejection, the heirs at law
and next of kin), affd. 205 N.Y.S. 382 (App. Div. 1924).
While we recognize that New York law explicitly prescribes
and limits a temporary administrator's authority, given the
nature of a temporary administrator's duties and, in this case,
the actions taken by him, the benefits of the temporary
administrator's receipt of the pension funds immediately inured
to the estate. The pension funds were used to pay the estate's
tax liabilities and other administration expenses including
attorney's fees, temporary administrator's fees, apartment rental
and maintenance fees, real estate taxes, and storage fees. The
economic benefit to the estate is not diminished by the fact
that, among other things, the temporary administrator lacked the
power to distribute any residual funds to the ultimate
beneficiary. Cf. Sneed v. Commissioner, 220 F.2d 313 (5th Cir.
1955) (court imposed liability on the surviving spouse for income
tax in each of the years that the community income was collected
by the executor rather than some later year when distribution was
actually made to the widow herself), affg. 17 T.C. 1344 (1952);
see also Sproull v. Commissioner, 16 T.C. 244 (1951), affd.
per curiam 194 F.2d 541 (6th Cir. 1952); Moore v. Commissioner,
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