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We finally note that allowing intervention is reasonable be-
cause it likely will increase the probability that we'll reach
the right result in any particular case. This is why we’ve con-
strued the right of a living spouse to intervene not just to op-
pose a petition, e.g., King v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. 118, 125
(2000), but also to support it, e.g., Van Arsdalen, 123 T.C. at
142.
We note that this is our construction of a statutory right,
and should not be confused with the issue of whether someone who
is jointly liable on a tax debt has constitutional standing to
challenge the Commissioner’s decision to let another taxpayer off
the hook for that debt. The Ninth Circuit--the circuit to which
this case would be appealed because Suzanne was a Nevada resident
when she filed her petition--has held that a nonrequesting spouse
lacks standing to challenge on appeal our decision to grant
innocent-spouse relief precisely because the spouse’s liability
would remain the same whether or not relief was granted,
Baranowicz v. Commissioner, 432 F.3d 972, 975 (9th Cir. 2005),
affg. T.C. Memo. 2003-274, and we are not faced with that issue
here.
The last question is what the Commissioner should do when
neither he nor the requesting spouse has any idea whether there
is an estate and whether it has a personal representative. While
there may well be circumstances in which the Court’s discretion
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Last modified: November 10, 2007