Brown v. United States

329 F.3d 664 Betty R. BROWN; Michael J. Brown; Philip A. Melrose; Beryl Rae, as Co-Trustee of the Marital Trust Created under the will of Willet H. Brown; Raymond C. Sandler, as Co-Trustees of the Marital Trust Created Under the Will of Willet H. Brown, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellee. No. 02-55254. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted February 4, 2003. Filed May 1, 2003. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Charles L. Birke, Sandler and Rosen, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellants. Judith A. Hagley, Tax Division, Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for the defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Gary A. Feess, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-99-05437-GAF. Before MESKILL, * FERGUSON, and BERZON, Circuit Judges. OPINION BERZON, Circuit Judge: 1 The estate tax combines into one sad transaction the only two certainties in life. Upon death, a decedent's estate must pay a tax on property owned immediately prior to death, subject to certain adjustments. 26 U.S.C. § 2001 et seq. 1 2 This appeal involves three of those adjustments.…