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States, 466 F.2d 131, 136 (10th Cir. 1972); Cory v. Commissioner,
159 F.2d 391, 392 (3d Cir. 1947), affg. a Memorandum Opinion of
this Court. In this case, petitioner represented herself when
she agreed to settle without formally raising the question of
section 6015 relief.
As was stated in Huynh v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2006-180:
Court cases have not yet clearly defined
"meaningful participation" in all respects, although we
have indicated that "merely [complying]" with a
spouse's instructions to sign various pleadings and
other documents filed in prior litigation is not
conclusive of meaningful participation, Thurner v.
Commissioner, supra at 53, but signing court documents
and participating in settlement negotiations are
indicators of meaningful participation. Id.; Monsour
v. Commissioner, supra.
In Trent v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-285, we
suggested that a taxpayer who participated in meetings
with an Appeals officer and who voluntarily signed a
decision document generally would be regarded as having
participated meaningfully, regardless of whether the
taxpayer was represented by counsel. [Fn. ref.
omitted.]
Here, petitioner was represented by counsel for an extended
period of time. Significantly, however, after the representation
ended, petitioner was advised by respondent of the existence of
section 6015 and the need to amend her pleading if she wished to
seek relief under that Code provision. That advice was provided
prior to the time that petitioner voluntarily agreed to settle
the outstanding issues in the two cases, which did not include
the question of relief under section 6015. The fact that Mr.
Moore urged that she agree to resolve the controversy does not
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