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the release of all claims asserted in both the civil action and the
will contest, which included the liability for the return of the
$247,500 of attorney’s fees.
Total litigation costs of $203,659 were incurred in the
action, resulting in a net recovery of $546,341. Pursuant to the
agreement between the estate and the Glovers, the estate’s 40-
percent portion of the net proceeds would be $218,536 (rounded).
The estate argues that the Glovers’ 60-percent share of the
settlement and the $247,500 of attorney’s fees that the Orphans’
Court ordered Eckell, Sparks to return to the estate should be
excluded from the $750,000 settlement that the parties stipulated
represents the starting point for determining the value of
decedent’s interest in the malpractice claim on the date of her
death.
For purposes of determining the value of a decedent’s gross
estate within the purview of section 2033, the term “property”
encompasses choses in action. United States v. Simmons, 346 F.2d
213 (5th Cir. 1965); Bank of Cal. v. Commissioner, 133 F.2d 428
(9th Cir. 1943), affg. in part and revg. in part Estate of Barneson
v. Commissioner, a Memorandum Opinion of this Court dated May 27,
1941; Estate of Curry v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 540 (1980); Cobb v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1985-208; Estate of Aldrich v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1983-543; Estate of Biagioni v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1981-660; Duffield v. United States, 136
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