Jean Ronald Getty Karin Getty v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Opinion
Opinion
Thompson, J.
J. Ronald Getty (“Ronald”) and Karin Getty appeal the tax court’s decision in Getty v. Commissioner, 91 T.C. 160 (1988), that $10 million which Ronald received from the settlement of a suit against the trustees of the J. Paul Getty Museum (“the Museum”) is taxable as income. We have jurisdiction under 26 U.S.C. § 7482 (a), and we reverse.
FACTS
Ronald is the son of the late J. Paul Getty (“J. Paul”) and his third wife, Adol-fine Getty (“Fini”). J. Paul and Fini were married in 1928. Fini returned to her native Germany soon thereafter as a result of her mother’s death. Ronald was born in Germany in 1929.
J. Paul and Fini divorced in 1932. In 1934, Fini sought an improvement in her prenuptial agreement with J. Paul and attacked the validity of the divorce. By 1934, J. Paul had remarried and had two more sons by his new wife. In a letter to Fini’s father, Otto Helme, dated November 20, 1934, J. Paul threatened that if Fini brought him “worry, anxiety, and trouble,” he would not be disposed to leave Ronald a large sum of money. Less than one month prior to that letter, J. Paul had executed a codicil to his will, reducing Ronald’s bequest to $5,000. Prior to the execution of this…