David C. Mapes, Jr. Nancy Dodds Mary Gail Hentzen v. United States

LEAVY, Circuit Judge:

In this case we are called upon to determine whether a legatee’s purported renunciation of his half-interest in an estate precluded the federal government from asserting a lien against that half-interest as the result of the legatee’s nonpayment of taxes. The district court held that the tax lien was valid under federal law because the renunciation failed as a matter of state law. We reverse.

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

Nell Joyner Mapes died on March 27, 1991, leaving half of her estate to her son, David Mapes, Sr. (“Mapes”). 1 At the time of his mother’s death, Mapes and…