Estate of Lewis A. Bailey, Deceased, Frances Jeanette Foster, Executrix - Page 38




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          $10,500 of claimed expenses, consisting of:  (1) $7,500 fees for            
          legal services of Dan McCraw, a Hot Springs, Arkansas, attorney,            
          and (2) $3,000 fees for legal services of George Plastiras, a               
          Little Rock, Arkansas, attorney.17  On the basis of all the                 
          evidence, we conclude that petitioner has adequately established            
          that these disputed amounts were necessarily or reasonably                  
          incurred in the administration of the estate.  Accordingly, we              
          hold that the claimed $47,522 of postreturn administrative                  
          expenses is deductible from the value of the gross estate                   
          pursuant to section 2053(a).                                                
               To reflect the foregoing and the parties’ concessions,                 

                                                  Decision will be                    
                                             entered under Rule 155.                  









               17 Included in the $47,522 of postreturn administrative                
          expenses that petitioner has claimed is $4,899.19 of fees paid to           
          Joy Gibson (Gibson), a California attorney who handled the                  
          California probate of decedent’s one-half ownership interest in             
          parcel 2.  Respondent concedes that “the expense of bringing the            
          probate case to clear up title” should be deductible from the               
          gross estate.  Respondent does not dispute that the fees paid to            
          Gibson were reasonably incurred for this purpose, but contends,             
          without explanation, that the deductible amount is only                     
          $4,846.49.  The parties have stipulated that the estate paid                
          Gibson $4,899.19.  We deem respondent to have conceded that                 
          $4,899.19 is deductible from the gross estate.                              




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