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hold title to the property for its beneficial owner under the
Fam-Trust; i.e., the decedent.
At trial, the estate offered Joseph S. Maniglia’s
accountant, Mr. Pino, as a witness. Mr. Pino’s testimony was of
little help because of his poor memory. He could not remember:
The year he became licensed as a Certified Public Accountant, the
year he met the Maniglias and began preparing their returns, or
whether he ever knew that Joseph S. Maniglia was or was not a
coowner of the property.7 Additionally, Mr. Pino’s admission
that his license was suspended “back then” because of a tax
evasion conviction brings his credibility into question.
Neither the filing of partnership returns in the name of
“Family Trust” for taxable years 1978 through 1999 nor the fact
that Joseph S. Maniglia performed managerial tasks with respect
to the property is sufficient proof that a partnership owned an
interest in the property. There is no written partnership
agreement. There are no balance sheets showing the partnership
assets or formal financial statements indicating the property was
owned by a partnership. To the contrary, the trust document,
7 Mr. Pino stated on direct examination that he never
received any documents from the Maniglias indicating there was no
partnership. He also, however, never received any documents
showing that Joseph S. Maniglia jointly owned the property or
that a partnership owned the property. The only information Mr.
Pino ever received in the process of preparing the Maniglias’ tax
returns related to income and expenses.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011