-45-
appraised them on the spot. We also know that Gonzalez testified
that she took three of the decedent’s rugs to her home in
Florida, that she later had those rugs appraised in Florida by
what she described as a “legitimate company”, and that the
company appraised the rugs at $4,000. Gonzalez effectively
conceded at trial that Butterfield did not recognize the value of
those rugs and did not meaningfully appraise them.29
c. Thousand dollar watch
Schiffer testified that the decedent wore a “thousand
dollar” watch. The coexecutors did not report any watch on the
estate’s Federal estate tax return. On the basis of Schiffer’s
testimony, we find that the fair market value of the decedent’s
“thousand dollar” watch was $1,000 as of the applicable valuation
date.
d. Cash at home
The coexecutors reported on the estate’s Federal estate tax
return that all of his money (exclusive of coin collections) as
of the applicable valuation date was held in financial
institutions.30 The coexecutors did not report any cash that the
29 For similar reasons, we also give little weight to the
fact that Christie’s wrote a letter to Gonzalez stating that it
was unable to prepare an insurance appraisal of some of the
Chinese artifacts in the decedent’s home because “Most of these
items are of modern or late production. * * * I would suggest
that you either call in a local appraiser or insure at the cost
prices.”
30 The coexecutors reported that the decedent had at
financial institutions two money market accounts and two checking
(continued...)
Page: Previous 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011