Opinion ID: 2383573
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The Equitable Adjustment Motion

Text: On April 2, 1992, Mr. Richards sought from the Chancery Division reimbursement to him out of the other beneficiaries' respective shares of the 1944 Trust of an amount equal to the income taxes he was required to pay on trust income that those beneficiaries received. In response, most of the beneficiaries maintained that Mr. Richards was, in fact, seeking to have the court reverse the IRS private letter ruling. Mr. Richards countered that while he had accepted the letter ruling's conclusion that the distributions carried out income for tax purposes as correct for purposes of his motion, he sought only an adjustment among the beneficiaries' respective interests in the trust and did not attempt to fix any party's actual tax liability. On May 14, 1992, the Chancery Division denied the motion for equitable adjustment on the grounds that Richards' liability was consistent with the terms of the post-death agreement between Richards and the six children as drafted by Richards' own counsel.