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considered. Petitioner cites Propstra v. United States, 680 F.2d
1248, 1254 (9th Cir. 1982), for its holding that, "as a matter of
law, when claims are for sums certain and are legally enforceable
as of the date of death, post-death events are not relevant in
computing the permissible deduction." That case involved lien
claims against property owned by the decedent. At the time of
the decedent's death, the water users' association to which the
money was owed had no authority to settle its claims for less
than the full amount, and the executrix had no legal or factual
arguments to support a challenge. After the estate return was
filed, the association's bylaws were amended to authorize it to
settle outstanding claims. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit declined to follow cases like Estate of Hagmann v.
Commissioner, supra, and applied the Ithaca Trust principle
enunciated supra p. 6. The Court of Appeals made it clear that
the date of death was the critical reference point in testing
whether a claim was enforceable.
Petitioner also cites Estate of Sachs v. Commissioner, 88
T.C. 769 (1987), revd. 856 F.2d 1158 (8th Cir. 1988), which
involved a deduction for income tax where a refund had occurred
due to a change in legislation 4 years after the decedent's
death. The decedent's reported income tax liability previously
had been increased in accordance with a Supreme Court opinion
decided 2 years after the decedent's death, and an increased
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