- 41 -
dates; as a result, Tamma Hatten in effect was required to pay
the other owners in order to dispose of her interests in those
companies (i.e., her overall sales proceeds were reduced). The
negative offsets were $1,405,449.35 for Eighty-Eight Oil and
$466,560.35 for True Oil. In the case of True Oil, the negative
book value was attributable to the deductions, which had been
taken for tax purposes, of intangible drilling and development
costs.
After the sale, Tamma and Don Hatten moved from Casper to
Thermopolis, Wyoming, where they bought a ranch and were no
longer involved in True family business activities. Dave and
Jean True thereafter ceased making annual gifts to Tamma and
amended their wills (and other estate planning documents) to
delete any specific provision for Tamma Hatten and her family.16
This was done because the Trues believed that Tamma Hatten was
financially secure as a result of the sale. Moreover, Dave True
believed that his estate should go to his sons so that they might
invest the assets in the family businesses. One of Dave True’s
testamentary documents entitled “Appointment of Trust Estate”
(appointment document), see infra p. 53, characterized the
circumstances as follows:
16However, under sec. 5.3 of the Appointment of Trust Estate
dated Sept. 14, 1984, if Dave True were to have been predeceased
by his wife, sons, and his sons’ lineal descendants, then Tamma
Hatten would have been the taker in default of Dave True’s
estate.
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