In June, a federal court ruled that the executor of the Estate of J. Howard Marshall and the trustee of a trust which received gifts from Mr. Marshall, are both personally liable for gift tax deficiencies related to the decedent. Both men, in reliance on legal counsel, distributed property without first paying unpaid gift tax. The court stated that reliance on incorrect legal advice does not excuse the non-payment, and personal liability attached to the fiduciaries. (U.S. v. MacIntyre, ___ F.Supp.2d ___, 2012 WL 2403491 (S.D. Tex June 25, 2012).
Wade Ash was involved with the infamous case of Anna Nicole Smith versus the Estate of J. Howard Marshall (Marshall v. Marshall, 547 U.S. 293 (2006)), for which our own Jim Wade submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the National College of Probate Judges.
