Ranghild Elton, Kenneth Siebert, Trustee - Page 8




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          Main-Hammond Land Trust v. Commissioner, 17 T.C. 942 (1951),                
          affd. on other grounds 200 F.2d 308 (6th Cir. 1952).  In the same           
          vein, we have retained jurisdiction over petitions filed while a            
          trust was active but had terminated after the petition was filed.           
          See Patz Trust v. Commissioner, 69 T.C. 497 (1977); Main-Hammond            
          Land Trust v. Commissioner, supra.  The principles of these                 
          earlier opinions support our holding that while we retain                   
          jurisdiction over petitions filed when a trust was active even              
          though subsequently voided, the trustee of a terminated or voided           
          trust should not be preferred to the true party in interest where           
          the trust has terminated or been voided and the subject of the              
          trust returned to the settlor.  In this situation, it is                    
          appropriate to favor the settlor over the trustee.                          
               Mr. Siebert did cite some cases3 in support of his position            
          that he is and should continue as the taxpayer in this proceeding           
          and that Ms. Elton should not be allowed to be substituted as the           
          party petitioner herein.  Those cases, however, are inapposite              
          because they involve the question of who is obligated to report             
          income and generally turn on factors such as ownership and title            
          of income-producing property.  Here, no one has questioned Mr.              
          Siebert’s ability to file the petition commencing this case.  The           


               3 See Griffiths v. Helvering, 308 U.S. 355 (1939); Edward G.           
          Swartz, Inc. v. Commissioner, 25 B.T.A. 1065 (1932), affd. 69               
          F.2d 633 (5th Cir. 1934); Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. v.                 
          United States, 81 Ct. Cl. 289, 10 F. Supp. 591 (1935).                      





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