- 9 - sold all of its assets, with the exception of the shopping center parcels, so it did not unreasonably refuse to sell assets; (2) it is not impermissible for an estate to incur expense (in this case interest) to preserve property for the benefit of the beneficiaries; (3) the loan was secured in order to vest good title in the beneficiaries because the proceeds were used to pay off the estate tax and remove the Government’s lien from the shopping center realty; (4) because the shopping center property had a value of more than double the outstanding tax liability, it would have been necessary to sell only a fractional interest and a severe discount would have resulted. If the entire property had been sold, the expenses of sale would have had to be borne by the portion that did not go to pay the estate tax, as well as the portion that was used for that purpose; (5) the trustee/ beneficiaries believed that the shopping center would increase in value and they should be allowed to borrow against, as opposed to selling, the property; and (6) the situation here is analogous to that of a trust holding a family farm for which sections 2032A and 2057 permit the type of relief petitioner seeks. Those estate tax provisions indicate a general congressional intent to preserve estates’ interests in certain family-owned businesses. Although we consider the cases cited by the parties in order to reach our conclusion, the parties’ interpretations of the cases appear generally to favor the allowance of the deduction ofPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011