- 3 - FINDINGS OF FACT Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. The stipulation of facts and the exhibits attached thereto are incorporated herein by this reference. A. Petitioners and the Bitker Partnership Curtis Bitker and Lynn Bitker are husband and wife. Jerry Bitker and Coleen Bitker are husband and wife. Curtis Bitker and Jerry Bitker (petitioner husbands) are brothers. All petitioners resided in Minnesota when the petitions in these cases were filed. Petitioner husbands were raised on a farm in Norman County, Minnesota, owned by their father, Ray Bitker. Petitioner husbands and their father formed the Bitker partnership on January 1, 1979. Each owned a one-third interest in the Bitker partnership. The Bitker partnership’s principal business is farming; however, it does not own any of the land that is farmed. In 1989, petitioner husbands acquired their father’s interest in the Bitker partnership at no cost; each then held a one-half interest in the partnership. Although their father was no longer a partner in the Bitker partnership, the partnership continued to farm his land and pay him rent for the use thereof. In 1991, Lynn Bitker and Coleen Bitker (petitioner wives) each obtained a 20-percent interest in the Bitker partnership at no cost. Since 1991, each petitioner husband has held a 30-percentPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011