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and cash, $38,058.49 in jointly owned property (real estate and
publicly traded stocks), and $416,615.57 in miscellaneous
property. Listed as an item of miscellaneous property was
"Thomas Trust -- 50% Interest", which was valued at $202,167.60
on the date of decedent's death. Compared to the remaining
assets included in decedent's estate, the interest in the Thomas
Trust would not have had a significant effect on the total value
of decedent's gross estate. In fact, the interest in the Thomas
Trust consisted of only approximately 10 percent of the entire
value of decedent's gross estate. Thus, a timely estate tax
return including all assets except the 50-percent interest in the
Thomas Trust would have been substantially correct.
Regardless, therefore, of the dispute surrounding the assets
held in the Thomas Trust, the executrix should have filed a
timely Federal estate tax return with the best information
available at the time, disclosing in the return that a dispute
existed with respect to Thomas Trust assets and making an
estimate of the value of those assets. At that time, the
executrix could have paid the tax shown to be due on that return.
Later, following the conclusion of the litigation, the executrix
could have filed an amended return, including in decedent's
estate the 50-percent interest in the Thomas Trust that was
decreed by the common pleas court and paying any additional tax
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