Opinion ID: 799600
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Third Party's Expectations

Text: The second factor asks whether the third party with a non-liable separate interest in the property would, in the normal course of events (leaving aside § 7403 and eminent domain proceedings, of course), have a legally recognized expectation that that separate property would not be subject to forced sale by the delinquent taxpayer or his or her creditors. Rodgers, 461 U.S. at 710, 103 S.Ct. 2132. Absent such an expectation, there would seem to be little reason not to authorize the sale. Id. at 711, 103 S.Ct. 2132. The Court recognized a continuum of such expectations and explained that this factor is amenable to considerations of degree. Id. The government concedes that Kentucky law provides a legally recognized expectation that property owned by a husband and wife as tenants by the entirety will not be subject to forced sale to satisfy the debts of one spouse. See Raybro, 813 F.Supp. at 1269-70; Real Property, 755 F.Supp. at 173. [2] Once she was no longer a delinquent taxpayer herself, Barbara Winsper had a legally recognized expectation that the entire property would not be subject to forced sale to satisfy her husband's separate tax liability. Accordingly, the district court properly found that this factor weighed in favor of Barbara Winsper and the exercise of discretion not to foreclose the lien and force the sale of the entire property. [3]