Opinion

West v. Commissioner

  • 3 T.C. 431
  • 1944 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 170
Court
United States Tax Court
Filed
Mar 10, 1944
Status
Published
Author
Mtjisdock
On the bench
Mtjisdock, Disney, Arnold
Cited by
10 cases

The opinion

Mtjisdock, J., dissenting: I dissent from that part of the opinion which holds that there was a lease of mineral rights including oil and gas underlying the surface lands which were sold. Both parties agree that the transaction of December 28,1938, effected a sale of the surface lands and one of the instruments executed on that date was a warranty deed conveying those surface lands. The deed, by its terms, purported to convey everything which the sellers had except a retained fractional interest in the minerals. Since the deed was sufficient to convey the surface lands, then it must have been sufficient to convey a fractional interest in the minerals. The supplemental agreement did not change the conveyance of the minerals into a lease while leaving the conveyance of the surface lands stand. The supplemental agreement had a purpose which was not inconsistent with a conveyance of the minerals. I think that the petitioners sold a fractional interest in the minerals to Humble and a capital gain resulted.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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