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FINDINGS OF FACT2
1. Preface
Some facts were stipulated. We incorporate herein by this
reference the parties’ stipulation of facts and the exhibits
submitted therewith. We find the stipulated facts accordingly.
Martha Johnson is the executrix of decedent’s estate. Martha
Johnson resided in Hampstead, New Hampshire, when the petition in
this case was filed.
2. Decedent and Her Family
Decedent was born on January 14, 1922, and she died at
7:22 a.m. on February 9, 2000, at the age of 78. She was a U.S.
citizen and a resident of the State of New York. She died
2 During trial, petitioner elicited testimony from two
partners of the partnership and the attorney who recommended and
implemented the transaction in issue. We have evaluated the
testimony of each of these witnesses by observing his or her
candor, sincerity, and demeanor and by assigning weight to the
elicited testimony for the primary purpose of finding disputed
facts. See Neonatology Associates, P.A. v. Commissioner, 115
T.C. 43, 84 (2000), affd. 299 F.3d 221 (3d Cir. 2002). Our
perception of these witnesses while viewing them testifying at
trial, coupled with our review of the record and our finding that
each of these witnesses has a pecuniary interest in the outcome
of this case, leads us to discount much of their uncorroborated
testimony as unreliable. We are not required to, and we do not,
rely on that discounted testimony to support petitioner’s
positions herein. See, e.g., Brookfield Wire Co. v.
Commissioner, 667 F.2d 551, 552 (1st Cir. 1981), affg. T.C. Memo.
1980-321; Haffner’s Serv. Stations, Inc. v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 2002-38, affd. 326 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2003). See also Kenney
v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-431, where the Court declined to
rely upon most of the testimony of the taxpayer and a long list
of relatives and close friends who testified in support of her
claim for innocent spouse relief.
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