Estate of John L. Baird, Deceased, Ellen B. Kirkland and J. Samuel Baird, Co-Executors - Page 9




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          concedes a case, by itself, is not sufficient to establish that             
          the respondent’s position was or is unreasonable.  Broad Ave.               
          Laundry & Tailoring v. United States, 693 F.2d 1387, 1391-1392              
          (Fed. Cir. 1982); Sokol v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 760, 767 (1989).           
          However, it is a factor to be considered.  Estate of Perry v.               
          Commissioner, 931 F.2d 1044, 1046 (5th Cir. 1991).                          
               The valuation of a property interest for Federal estate tax            
          purposes is a factual question.  See Estate of Bonner v. United             
          States, 84 F.3d 196, 197 (5th Cir. 1996); Sammons v.                        
          Commissioner, 838 F.2d 330, 333 (9th Cir. 1988), affg. on this              
          point and revg. in part on another ground T.C. Memo. 1986-318.              
          Prior to the issuance of the notices of deficiency, respondent              
          accepted the estates’ appraisal of the fair market value of the             
          16 parcels of realty held by the trust.  Throughout the                     
          administrative and pretrial portions of these cases, the parties            
          disagreed about the purely factual question of how much discount            
          should be applied to the decedent’s fractional interests.  During           
          the administrative proceeding, the parties relied on expert                 
          opinions and appraisals in support of their respective positions.           
          The estates, at various times, sought progressively larger                  
          discounts of 25, 50, 60 and 90 percent.7  Throughout the entire             
          period, respondent contended that the cost to partition and sell            

               7 The estates variously claimed 25-, 50-, and then 60-                 
          percent discounts for the same interests.  At trial, the estates            
          sought an increased discount of 90 percent.                                 





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