Opinion ID: 25542
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Number of Johnco Shares in the Estate.

Text: The Estate asserts that the Tax Court clearly erred in determining the number of shares that the Mr. Jameson’s Estate transferred to it. It argues that the Tax Court disregarded explicit language in Mr. Jameson's will directing that an independent appraisal establish the number of shares in the bequest to Andrew. As a result of the appraisal, the Estate owns only 80,485 Johnco shares instead of the 81,641 shares that the Tax Court attributed to it. An unambiguous will must be construed as it was written. El Paso Nat’l Bank v. Shriners Hosp. for Crippled Children, 615 S.W.2d 184, 185 (Tex. 1981).4 Neither we nor the Commissioner nor 4 Mr. Jameson was a Texas resident, so Texas estate cases apply. 17 the Tax Court may redraft the will or vary provisions to reflect Mr. Jameson’s presumed intentions. Shriner’s Hosp. for Crippled Children of Tex. v. Stahl, 610 S.W.2d 147, 151 (Tex. 1980). Mr. Jameson’s will was unambiguous. It expressly directed that Andrew receive shares in accordance with an independent appraisal. Even if Rauscher based Mr. John’s estate’s Appraisal on unreliable assumptions, as the IRS asserts, this fact does not alter Mr. Jameson’s explicit intent to transfer shares in accordance with the valuation. Granted, the $86.80 Johnco share value that Helen reported on her husband’s estate tax return is inconsistent with Rauscher’s $44.65 valuation. This discrepancy might be important if we were valuing Johnco shares at Mr. Jameson’s death, but we are not. Our sole inquiry is to determine the number of shares that Mr. Jameson granted to Andrew through his will. Since the IRS does not argue that the Rauscher appraisal was not an “independent appraisal,” Mrs. Jameson’s estate owns only 80,405 shares of Johnco.