Opinion
4419-24
05-01-2024
JESSICA BZDIL, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Kathleen Kerrigan Chief Judge
On March 21, 2024, petitioner Jessica Bzdil filed the petition commencing this case. Petitioner seeks to be relieved of joint and several liability (innocent spouse relief) for the 2019 taxes that the IRS asserts she owes with her late husband, Thomas J. Bzdil, because they filed a joint return for that tax year. This would ordinarily mean the Internal Revenue Service would have to notify Thomas J. Bzdil of his right to intervene in this case if he wished either to support or to oppose the innocent spouse relief that Ms. Bzdil is seeking. Thomas J. Bzdil would then have 60 days after service of that notice to intervene in this case regarding Ms. Bzdil's entitlement to innocent spouse relief by filing a Notice of Intervention with the Tax Court.
On April 30, 2024, respondent filed a Status Report stating that: (1) petitioner's spouse (decedent), Thomas J. Bzdil, is deceased, and (2) there is no court-appointed representative or fiduciary who is currently authorized to act on behalf of the estate of decedent. Respondent advises that the only heirs at law of the decedent are the surviving spouse, petitioner Jessica Bzdil, and decedent's three children, Cody Esposito-Bzdil, Kalli Bzdil, and K. Bzdil.
In Fain v. Commissioner, 129 T.C. 89 (2007), the Court held that the right to intervene survives the death of the non-petitioning spouse and passes to the non-petitioning spouse's heirs.
Upon due consideration of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that respondent's Status Report is recharacterized as a Notice of Filing of Petition and Right to Intervene. It is further
ORDERED that, in addition to regular service, the Clerk of the Court shall serve copies of this Order on Cody Esposito-Bzdil, Kalli Bzdil, and K. Bzdil at their respective addresses provided in respondent's above-referenced Notice of Filing of Petition and Right to Intervene. It is further
ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall include with the copies of this Order served on Cody Esposito-Bzdil, Kalli Bzdil, and K. Bzdil copies of respondent's Notice of Filing of Petition and Right to Intervene and the petition filed in this case. It is further
ORDERED that, on or before May 22, 2024, Cody Esposito-Bzdil, Kalli Bzdil, and K. Bzdil may exercise the heir at law's right to intervene in this case by filing a Notice of Intervention with the Court and attaching a copy of this Order. A Notice of Intervention form (Form 13) is available on the Court's website, www.ustaxcourt.gov.