Opinion ID: 1468274
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Adamowicz, Fraser, and Roslyn Summonses

Text: In July 2005, IRS Estate Tax Attorney Susan Leboff issued three third-party summonses in her investigation of the estate and gift tax liability of Mary Adamowicz. Petitioners-Appellants Michael Adamowicz and Elizabeth Fraser are the decedent's children and also the executors of her estate. The three summonses were issued to Michael Adamowicz as an individual, Elizabeth Fraser as an individual, and Roslyn Savings Bank. The first two summonses requested that Adamowicz and Fraser appear on September 8, 2005 and produce a number of documents that the IRS claimed would be relevant in determining whether the decedent had either directly, or through her closely-held companies, made gratuitous transfers to family members before her death that would be subject to estate and gift tax liability. The summons to Roslyn Savings Bank requested its appearance on July 29, 2005 and asked it to produce a more discrete set of documents. Adamowicz and Fraser, in their capacity as executors of the estate, moved to quash all three third-party summonses on August 11, 2005, asserting, inter alia, that the summonses were overbroad and were issued for an improper purpose. The government moved to dismiss that petition and also sought an order compelling compliance with the summonses, attaching a declaration from IRS Attorney Leboff to support its motion. Leboff issued two additional summonses to Adamowicz and Fraser in their capacities as executors of the estate, requesting that they appear on September 8, 2005, and that they produce a number of documents. Adamowicz and Fraser appeared at the IRS on September 8, 2005, but they did not provide any documents responsive to the summonses and refused to answer questions. The government filed a petition on March 9, 2006 to enforce these two summonses. On September 7, 2006, the district court denied Adamowicz's and Fraser's petition to quash the three third-party summonses and ordered that all five summonses be enforced. [2] Citing United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 85 S.Ct. 248, 13 L.Ed.2d 112 (1964), the district court explained that the four criteria for determining whether a summons is to be enforced had been met. It relied on Leboff's declaration to find that (1) the summonses were issued for the legitimate purpose of determining the proper estate and gift tax liability of Mary Adamowicz; (2) the information sought was relevant to that purpose; (3) the information sought was not already in the possession of the government; and (4) all administrative steps required by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), 26 U.S.C. §§ 1-9834, had been followed. Thus, it found that the government had established a prima facie showing under Powell, and that Adamowicz's and Fraser's submissions [did] little, if anything, to counter the Leboff Declaration or support any claim of improper purpose.