Estate of Lucius Earl Dixon, C. G. Vaughan, Lois K. Dixon, Intervenor-Appellant v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

The Tax Court denied the petition of Lois K. Dixon to intervene in proceedings between the trustee of a trust and the Commissioner to determine the taxable value of a decedent’s estate. This appeal presents two questions:

(1) Was the denial of intervention an appealable order?

(2) If so, was the denial an abuse of discretion?

The Commissioner issued a notice of deficiency to the Estate of Lucius Earl Dixon in May 1977. The issue was the value of L. E. Dixon Company stock owned by the decedent. In August 1977 the estate filed a petition in the Tax Court seeking a redetermination of the deficiency, alleging that the Dixon stock had been overvalued.

In October 1979 Lois Dixon filed a motion to intervene, alleging that she had an interest in the proceedings adverse to the estate because it was in her best interest to have the adjusted gross estate valued at as high a level as possible. Her husband had established an inter vivos trust under which she was to receive a share of the trust assets equal to the maximum marital deduction allowed for federal estate tax purposes. The trust provided that this bequest was to be satisfied out of assets other than the Dixon stock and was to be…