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connected disabled veteran. This triggered a large, lump-sum
payment (much of which Lovenguth set aside for his son’s future
education) followed by periodic disability checks. He remained
hospitalized off and on until early 1994.
During this time, the Commissioner sent him two notices of
deficiency: the first, sent in December 1991, asserted a
deficiency of a little over $1,000 for 1988; the second, sent in
May 1992, asserted a deficiency of about $4,000 for 1989.
Lovenguth apparently never received the notice of deficiency for
1988, and so he never filed a petition. He did manage to file a
timely petition for the 1989 year. Although a notice for
Lovenguth’s court date was sent, Lovenguth claims that he never
received it. Given that he was involuntarily committed when it
was sent, this is at least plausible. Our own records show that
we dismissed his case when he failed to appear after it was
called from the calendar. Though the merits of the notices of
deficiency for both the 1988 and 1989 tax years were never
adjudicated, the Commissioner assessed both deficiencies under
the default rules in the Code.
After making these assessments, the Commissioner sent
several notices to Lovenguth’s last known address to try to
collect. His last known address, though, was the home that he
had shared with his former wife many years before. Their
relationship had not improved with his mental illness and
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