James G. Smyth, Collector of Internal Revenue v. Mazie Erickson, of the Last Will and Testament of Timothy H. Carlon, Deceased

On October 10, 1938, Timothy H. Car-lon was adjudged incompetent by the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Merced, and W. J. Ferrell was appointed guardian of his estate; thereafter, Carlon’s daughter, Mazie Tangerman (later Mazie Erickson, the appellee), became dissatisfied with Ferrell’s- management of her father’s estate, and on April 10, 1941, entered into a written contract under the terms of which she employed certain attorneys to represent “her interest in all proceedings pertaining to or arising out of the guardianship of Timothy H. Carlon, an incompetent person, and hereafter (sic) and in all matters, contests, actions and proceedings in probate that shall arise upon the death of said incompetent”. Mazie agreed to pay the attorneys 25% of all moneys or property to which she might become entitled from the estate of her father as compensation for their services in the “protection, safeguarding and procurement” of her share in her father’s estate. Any fees which might be allowed the attorneys by the court in the guardianship matter were not to be deducted from the 25% contingent fee.

As a result of litigation in which Mazie’s attorneys…