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What Was Conveyed?
State law controls the determination of the nature of the
property interest the taxpayer conveyed. See United States v.
National Bank of Commerce, 472 U.S. 713, 722 (1985) (citing and
quoting Aquilino v. United States, 363 U.S. 509, 512-513 (1960)).
In order to determine the property rights transferred by the
contract for deed we must therefore look to Texas property law.
In determining what the relevant State law is “the State’s
highest court is the best authority on its own law.”
Commissioner v. Estate of Bosch, 387 U.S. 456, 465 (1967). The
decision of an “intermediate appellate state court ... is a datum
for ascertaining state law which is not to be disregarded”,
unless the Federal court is convinced that the State’s highest
court would decide differently. Id. The decrees of “lower state
courts should be attributed some weight”, but their decisions are
not controlling where the highest court of the State has not
spoken on the point. Id. (quotation marks and citation omitted).
State Law
Petitioner and respondent cite seemingly conflicting lines
of authority in setting out their respective positions on what
rights a purchaser acquires under a contract for deed in Texas.
Respondent relies on a line of cases that starts with
Johnson v. Wood, 157 S.W.2d 146 (Tex. 1941) (an opinion adopted
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Last modified: May 25, 2011