W. Frank Lee, Jr., as Administrator of the Estate of W. Frank Lee, Deceased, and Anne H. Lee, Surviving Wife v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

I

I am unable to agree with the majority opinion because a review of the entire evidence in this case leaves me with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed. To begin with, the Tax Court made a mistake of law by admitting, over due objection, proof that the decedent had been adjudged a bankrupt ten years before the beginning point of the net worth computation. Although the Commissioner made no adequate explanation of decedent’s finances-during that ten year hiatus, the Tax Court evidently laid stress on the fact of the bankruptcy. It was entirely too remote for…