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assignment agreement. The definition of the term “fair market
value” for that purpose is the same definition used for Federal
gift tax purposes. See sec. 25.2512-1, Gift Tax Regs. The last
sentence of the above-quoted paragraph merely requires that any
dispute with respect to the allocation of the gifted interest
among the donees be resolved by arbitration as provided in the
partnership agreement. Nothing in that paragraph mandates that
if the fair market value of the gifted interest to which the
various donees agreed is ultimately determined not to be the fair
market value of that interest, no adjustment may be made to the
respective assignee percentage interests allocated to CFT and the
other donees, as set forth in the confirmation agreement. I
believe that the majority opinion’s construction of the above-
quoted paragraph is strained, unreasonable, and improper and
leads to illogical results.
In essence, the majority opinion concludes that the donees
of the gifted interest made a mistake in determining the fair
market value of that interest and that petitioners are stuck with
that mistaken value solely for purposes of determining the
respective assignee percentage interests transferred to the
donees under that agreement.
The majority opinion states that
the assignment agreement contemplates the allocation of
the gifted interest based on the assignees’ best
estimation of that value. Moreover, each of the
assignees’ percentage interests was determined
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