- 5 - determining the capacity of Mr. Wilde to petition this Court. Under Arizona law, a trustee has the capacity to institute court proceedings on behalf of a trust and is thus the proper party to file a petition on behalf of a trust in this Court. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. sec. 14-7233.C.25 (West 1995). Petitioners bear the burden of proving that this Court has jurisdiction by establishing affirmatively all facts giving rise to our jurisdiction. See Patz v. Commissioner, 69 T.C. 497, 503 (1977); Fehrs v. Commissioner, 65 T.C. 346, 348 (1975); Wheeler’s Peachtree Pharmacy, Inc. v. Commissioner, 35 T.C. 177, 180 (1960); National Comm. to Secure Justice v. Commissioner, 27 T.C. 837, 839 (1957); Consolidated Cos. v. Commissioner, 15 B.T.A. 645, 651 (1929). In order to meet that burden, petitioners must provide evidence establishing that Mr. Wilde has authority to act on their behalf. See National Comm. to Secure Justice v. Commissioner, supra at 839-840; Coca-Cola Bottling Co. v. Commissioner, 22 B.T.A. 686, 700 (1931). Petitioners refuse to provide the trust documents to respondent and to the Court. At the hearing, when asked why he had not produced the documents, Mr. Wilde remarked: “Why should we offer [respondent] the benefit of our volunteering [the trust documents] when respondent and respondent’s counsel repeatedlyPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011