Estate of H.A. True, Jr. - Page 274




                                       - 37 -                                         
               fair market value of each 8% interest was properly                     
               determined at $54,653.                                                 
          Judgment was entered accordingly, and the United States did not             
          appeal.                                                                     
              Although members of the True family asserted at trial that              
          they believed that the book value buy-sell provisions were valid            
          and enforceable as a result of the favorable outcomes of the 1971           
          and 1973 gift tax cases, neither they nor Dave True engaged                 
          counsel to advise them of the legal effects of those cases on               
          future transfers pursuant to the buy-sell agreements.  In fact,             
          as described infra pp. 51-52, Dave True saw the 1993 transfers as           
          his opportunity to test the ability of the buy-sell agreements to           
          fix Federal gift tax value.                                                 
              In preparing for litigation of the 1971 and 1973 gift tax               
          cases, Dave True obtained appraisals for the transferred                    
          interests in Belle Fourche (valued as of August 2, 1971) and True           
          Oil (valued as of August 1, 1973) from Standard Research                    
          Consultants (SRC).  The SRC appraisals supported the True family            
          positions in the 1971 and 1973 gift tax cases.                              
              After evaluating Belle Fourche’s historical performance,                
          along with overall economic and industry trends, SRC used the               
          earnings and book value approaches to derive a “freely traded               
          value” for the transferred stock.  The earnings approach required           
          determining various price-earnings multiples for comparable                 
          public companies, adjusting them for Belle Fourche’s unique                 





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