Opinion

Lehman v. Commissioner

  • 7 T.C. 1088
  • 1946 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 42
Court
United States Tax Court
Filed
Nov 5, 1946
Status
Published
Author
Harlan
On the bench
Opper
Cited by
25 cases
Authority
More cited than 10.4%

The opinion

Harlan, J., dissenting: I agree with the contentions of the Commissioner in this case that the original partnership was destroyed on May 16,1936, with the death of the partner, Arthur Lehman, and that the partnership interest which the taxpayer sold was an interest in a new partnership formed after May 16,1936, and that his rights as to claiming a long term capital gain must be dated from the date of the formation of the new partnership. The case principally relied upon by the prevailing opinion, Robert E. Ford, 6 T. C. 499 , does not seem to be authority for the conclusion of the prevailing opinion. In the Ford case a partner withdrew from a partnership and disposed of his interest. The Uniform Partnership Act, which was then in force in the State of Minnesota, where the question arose, provided that a transfer of interest does not óf itself dissolve a partnership.

In the case at bar section 62 of the Partnership Law of New York specifically provides that a partnership shall be dissolved by the death of any partner. This clause was directly under consideration by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Darcey v. Commissioner, 66 Fed. (2d) 581; certiorari denied, 290 U. S. 705 , wherein it was held that after the death of a partner the partnership could not be maintained against a provision of the statutory law of New York by any contract between the parties. The court held that the partners could agree as to a division of partnership income after the death of a partner, but that such agreement did not result in prolonging the life of the partnership. Therefore the partnership of Lehman Brothers expired with the death of Arthur Lehman and the interest which the taxpayer held in that partnership prior to Arthur Lehman’s death terminated at that time.

Oppek, /., agrees with this dissent.

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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