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1993. Bernice Midgorden, the estate's personal representative,
resided in Plymouth, Minnesota, when the petition was filed.
The decedent signed his Last Will and Testament (the will)
on May 19, 1993. Article I named Ms. Midgorden as the estate's
personal representative. The decedent chose Ms. Midgorden to
serve in this capacity because of their close and trusting
relationship; Ms. Midgorden had limited tax and business
knowledge, and she had never before served as a fiduciary of an
estate. On August 11, 1993, the court overseeing the probate of
the estate (the probate court) formally named Ms. Midgorden as
personal representative.
Ms. Midgorden retained an attorney named Bradley Thorsen to
help her administer the estate. Mr. Thorsen, a friend of the
decedent, did not agree to help Ms. Midgorden with the decedent's
tax returns, so Ms. Midgorden retained Samuel Held, the
decedent's accountant, to prepare the tax returns required by
Federal or State law. Ms. Midgorden did not ask Mr. Held the
date by which any of these returns had to be filed or the time
that she had to remit any tax to the appropriate recipient.
Ms. Midgorden believed that the Federal estate tax return had to
be filed within 18 months of the decedent's death. Ms. Midgorden
formed her belief based on her understanding from conversations
with Mr. Thorsen that all documents connected to the probate of
the estate had to be furnished to the probate court within
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