Cite as: 535 U. S. 274 (2002)
Thomas, J., dissenting
estate, were likely destroyed by the quitclaim deed that severed the tenancy. See n. 1, supra. Unlike a lien attached to the property itself, which would survive a conveyance, a lien attached to a "right to property" falls squarely within the maxim that "the tax collector not only steps into the taxpayer's shoes but must go barefoot if the shoes wear out." Bittker ¶ 44.5[4][a] (noting that "a state judgment terminating the taxpayer's rights to an asset also extinguishes the federal tax lien attached thereto"). See also Elliott
¶ 9.09[3][d][i] (explaining that while a tax lien may attach to a taxpayer's option on property, if the option terminates, the Government's lien rights would terminate as well).
Accordingly, I conclude that Mr. Craft had neither "property" nor "rights to property" to which the federal tax lien could attach.
II
That the federal tax lien did not attach to the Grand Rapids property is further supported by the consensus among the lower courts. For more than 50 years, every federal court reviewing tenancies by the entirety in States with a similar understanding of tenancy by the entirety as Michigan has concluded that a federal tax lien cannot attach to such property to satisfy an individual spouse's tax liability.8 This
8 See IRS v. Gaster, 42 F. 3d 787, 791 (CA3 1994) (concluding that the IRS is not entitled to a lien on property owned as a tenancy by the entirety to satisfy the tax obligations of one spouse); Pitts v. United States, 946 F. 2d 1569, 1571-1572 (CA4 1991) (same); United States v. American Nat. Bank of Jacksonville, 255 F. 2d 504, 507 (CA5), cert. denied, 358 U. S. 835 (1958) (same); Raffaele v. Granger, 196 F. 2d 620, 622-623 (CA3 1952) (same); United States v. Hutcherson, 188 F. 2d 326, 331 (CA8 1951) (explaining that the interest of one spouse in tenancy by the entirety property "is not a right to property or property in any sense"); United States v. Nathanson, 60 F. Supp. 193, 194 (ED Mich. 1945) (finding no designation in the Federal Revenue Act for imposing tax upon property held by the entirety for taxes due from one person alone); Shaw v. United States, 94 F. Supp. 245, 246 (WD Mich. 1939) (recognizing that the nature of the estate under Michigan law precludes the tax lien from attaching to ten-
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