First American Title Insurance v. United States

OPINION

KLEINFELD, Circuit Judge:

This is a tax collection case about a third party challenge to a tax assessment and lien on an earlier owner’s property.

FACTS

In 1991, Penny Jensen’s mother, Roberta Smith, died, and Jensen was named the personal representative of her mother’s estate. The estate consisted of three houses and the stock of a corporation that owned a hamburger drive-in (Frisko Freeze, Inc.).

The estate filed its federal estate tax return in 1992. The return valued the estate at $1,302,129, calculated taxes at $144,323, and elected to pay the $144,323 with about $45,000 down and the…