Revised July 26, 1999
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
For the Fifth Circuit
No. 98-40170
In The Matter Of: JOHN DAVIS ORR,
Debtor.
------------------------
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE,
Appellee,
VERSUS
JOHN DAVIS ORR,
Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
July 12, 1999
Before SMITH, DeMOSS, and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
DeMOSS, Circuit Judge:
A spendthrift trust beneficiary who extinguished personal
federal tax liabilities through bankruptcy now appeals the
determination by the district court that distributions from the
trust are subject to a prebankruptcy federal tax lien until the tax
liability is satisfied. The district court’s order conclusively
settles a discrete issue within the bankruptcy case, and is
appealable pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(d). We conclude that the
federal tax lien on income distributions from this Texas
spendthrift trust attached to future distributions at the time of
the creation of the lien, and not as of the time each distribution
was made. The lien thus predates and survives the bankruptcy. The
judgment below is, therefore, affirmed.
I.
On April 24, 1965, Unis Chapman Eichelberger executed a
document entitled “Unis Chapman Eichelberger Chapman Ranch Trusts”
(“Trust Document”). Eichelberger’s grandson, John Davis Orr, is
the named principal beneficiary of the Unis Chapman Eichelberger
Chapman Ranch Trust I (“Trust”), described in the Trust Document.
The Trust provides that Orr, after reaching the age of thirty,
shall receive “all of the net income of the trust . . .
distributed . . . annually or at more frequent intervals.” The
Trust lasts for Orr’s life and then terminates. Orr has limited
testamentary power over the distribution of the Trust’s property
after his death, but if Orr does not exercise this power the
property is distributed to Orr’s then-living descendants, and if no
such persons exist, to charity. The spendthrift provision reads as
follows:
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No trust assets or income shall be liable for the
debts of any beneficiary, nor subject to seizure
under any judicial writ or proceeding. No
beneficiary shall have the power to give, grant,
sell, assign, transfer, mortgage, pledge, encumber,
or in any manner to anticipate or dispose of the
interest in the trust estate or its income or to
dispose of the interest in the trust estate or its
income or to dispose of any trust property until it
has been actually delivered to him in accordance
with the terms hereof, except that the foregoing
shall in no manner restrict the authority otherwise
granted to any trustee who is a beneficiary to
distribute the trust property as provided herein.
Despite the generous provisions made for him by his
grandmother, Orr has encountered financial difficulties. He filed
for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 7 on November 1, 1995, and
received his discharge on May 21, 1996. He has received no
distributions from the Trust since filing for bankruptcy relief.
And, most pertinent to the present controversy, he had previously
run afoul of the Internal Revenue Service by failing to pay income
taxes.
Orr failed to file his federal income tax returns for 1984
through 1991. After examination, the IRS and Orr agreed to the
amount of tax and signed a Form 4549-CG, Income Tax Examination
Changes, consenting to assessment and collection on October 1,
1992. On October 26, 1992, the IRS assessed the taxes, penalties,
and interest reflecting the consent. Despite notice and demand,
Orr’s federal income tax liabilities for the taxes assessed on
October 26, 1992 (to the date of the bankruptcy petition) were as
follows:
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Year Amount
1984 $160,062.08
1985 63,126.91
1986 88,018.08
1987 79,723.98
1988 141,729.83
1989 29,435.00
1990 45,436.27
1991 23,842.35
Notices of federal tax liens were filed in the personal and
real property records of Nueces County, Texas for the 1984 through
1991 income tax liabilities on January 11, 1993. Orr also owed
federal income taxes on the date of petition for 1992 in the amount
of $2.69. Notices of federal tax liens were filed in the personal
and real property records of Nueces County for the 1992 income tax
liability on December 28, 1993. At the times the notices of
federal tax liens were filed, Orr was a resident of Nueces County.
Orr filed this adversary action to determine the answer to one
stipulated issue: “Whether the Internal Revenue Service’s Notices
of Federal Tax Lien attached to any interest of Debtor in the Unis
Chapman Eichelberger Chapman Ranch Trust I to secure the payment of
Debtor’s federal income tax liabilities for 1984 through 1992?”
The parties agree that Orr can be granted a personal discharge from
his federal tax liability for 1984 through 1991 pursuant to 11
U.S.C. § 727, but not for his liability for 1992. Furthermore, the
parties stipulated that the federal tax liens attached to Orr’s
property or interests in property in existence at the time of his
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bankruptcy filing are not dischargeable as to the property to which
they attached. There is no stipulation as to whether the federal
tax liens attached or attaches to any of Orr’s interest in the
Trust or its assets, or that Orr has or had an interest in the
Trust or its assets.
Orr prevailed in the bankruptcy court. The IRS appealed to
the district court, which reversed the bankruptcy court. Orr now
appeals the judgment of the district court.
II.
Counsel were instructed to brief the question of “[w]hether
the order from which appeal is taken in the bankruptcy case is a
final order for purposes of appeal.” The parties agree that this
Court may properly exercise its appellate jurisdiction, invoking
the grant of jurisdiction in 28 U.S.C. § 158(d). That statute
provides that “[t]he courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction of
appeals from all final decisions, judgments, orders, and decrees
entered under subsections (a) and (b) of this section.” 28 U.S.C.
§ 158(d). Subsection (a) provides for the appellate jurisdiction
of district courts over inter alia, “final judgments, orders, and
decrees . . . of bankruptcy judges.” (Subsection (b), which is
inapplicable in this case, pertains to the jurisdiction of
bankruptcy appellate panels.)
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Orr prevailed on his motion for summary judgment in the
bankruptcy court, based on his contention that the tax liens do not
attach to his post-discharge income distributions from the Trust.
In the context of a bankruptcy proceeding, this grant of summary
judgment qualified as a “final order” reviewable by the district
court. This Court has explained:
A [bankruptcy] case need not be appealed as a
“single judicial unit” at the end of the entire
bankruptcy proceeding, but the order must
constitute a “‘final determination of the rights of
the parties to secure the relief they seek in this
suit,’” or the order must dispose of a discrete
dispute within the larger bankruptcy case for the
order to be considered final.
Texas Extrusion Corp. v. Lockheed Corp. (In re Texas Extrusion
Corp.), 844 F.2d 1142, 1155 (5th Cir. 1988) (internal citations
omitted). There is, therefore, a lower threshold for meeting the
“final judgments, orders, and decrees” appealability standard under
28 U.S.C. § 158(a) than there is for the textually similar “final
decisions” appealability standard under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. In this
case, the decision of the bankruptcy court resolved all dispositive
issues pertaining to the discrete dispute concerning the post-
discharge viability of pre-discharge federal tax liens on Orr’s
interest in the Trust, and therefore was ripe for appeal to the
district court.
Likewise, the district court’s reversal of the bankruptcy
court is reviewable by the court of appeals pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 158(d). Review of “final decisions, judgments, orders, and
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decrees” under § 158(d) is more akin to review of “final decisions”
under § 1291 in nonbankruptcy appeals, whereby “[a] decision is
final when it ‘ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing
for the court to do but execute the judgment.’” Briargrove
Shopping Ctr. Joint Venture v. Pilgrim Enters., Inc., 170 F.3d 536,
539 (5th Cir. 1999) (quoting Askanase v. Livingwell, Inc., 981 F.2d
807, 810 (5th Cir. 1993) (quoting Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437
U.S. 463, 467, 98 S. Ct. 2454 (1978))). But even under § 158(d),
“this court’s determination of whether an order is final (and
therefore appealable) is more liberal in the bankruptcy context”
than under § 1291. See Lentino v. Cage (In re Lentino), No.
98-20626, 1999 WL 77140, at *2 (5th Cir. Mar. 5, 1999) (summary
calendar).
If this adversary proceeding stood alone as an independent
case, it would be appealable even under the higher standard of
§ 1291. Now that the district court has overruled the bankruptcy
court and ordered “that IRS’ lien shall attach to all income
distributions made to Orr from the spendthrift trust at issue,”
there is nothing left for the bankruptcy court to do. Hence, the
matter is sufficiently “final” for appellate review.
III.
Orr is the beneficiary of a spendthrift trust. Texas law has
historically respected the validity of spendthrift trusts. See,
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e.g., Caples v. Buell, 243 S.W. 1066 (Tex. Comm’n App. 1922); see
generally 72 Tex. Jur. 3d Trusts §§ 37-42 (1990). The state
specifically acknowledges the validity of spendthrift trusts by
statute. See Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § 112.035 (Vernon 1995).
The creation of a trust involves the separation of legal and
equitable ownership of property. The trustee is the legal owner of
the corpus of a spendthrift trust; the beneficiary is the equitable
owner. See, e.g., Burns v. Miller, Hiersche, Martens & Hayward,
P.C., 948 S.W.2d 317, 322 (Tex. App.--Dallas 1997, writ denied).
The tax liens at issue in this case were created pursuant to
26 U.S.C. § 6321, which provides:
If any person liable to pay any tax neglects
or refuses to pay the same after demand, the amount
(including any interest, additional amount,
addition to tax, or assessable penalty, together
with any costs that may accrue in addition thereto)
shall be a lien in favor of the United States upon
all property and rights to property, whether real
or personal, belonging to such person.
26 U.S.C. § 6321. “Stronger language could hardly have been
selected to reveal a purpose to assure the collection of taxes.”
Glass City Bank v. United States, 326 U.S. 265, 267, 66 S. Ct. 108,
110 (1945). “Congress meant to reach every interest in property
that a taxpayer might have.” United States v. National Bank of
Commerce, 472 U.S. 713, 719, 105 S. Ct. 2919, 2924 (1985). The
Supreme Court has construed the language of § 6321 to mean that a
tax lien attaches not only to property owned by the debtor at the
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time the lien attaches, but also to after-acquired property until
the tax liability is satisfied. See Glass City Bank, 326 U.S. at
267-69, 66 S. Ct. at 110-11.
The interaction between federal and state law in this area is
an important facet of our analysis. It is well-settled that in
federal taxation cases, the definition of underlying property
interests is left to state law, but the consequences that attach to
those interests are determined by reference to federal law. See
United States v. Rodgers, 461 U.S. 677, 683, 103 S. Ct. 2132, 2137
(1983); Aquilino v. United States, 363 U.S. 509, 513, 80 S. Ct.
1277, 1280 (1960). Thus, we look to state law to determine the
character of any property right Orr may have in future
distributions from the Trust, but federal law determines whether or
not, and at what point in time, a tax lien may attach to that
property interest. See, e.g., United States v. Bess, 357 U.S. 51,
55-57, 78 S. Ct. 1054, 1057-58 (1958).
A.
The principle of the Glass City Bank case (that a tax lien
attaches to the debtor’s after-acquired property until the tax
liability is satisfied) was long ago extended to include the
attachment of a tax lien to after-acquired distributions from a
spendthrift trust. See United States v. Dallas Nat’l Bank, 152
F.2d 582 (5th Cir. 1945) (hereinafter, Dallas I), appeal after
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remand, 164 F.2d 489 (5th Cir. 1947), appeal after second remand,
167 F.2d 468 (5th Cir. 1948) (hereinafter, Dallas III). The
precise holding of the Dallas opinions is the main bone of
contention in the appeal of Orr’s case, which involves the added
feature of an intervening bankruptcy. Orr’s filing for bankruptcy
relief under Chapter 7 did not affect the validity of any tax lien
the IRS may have had prior to the filing. Ordinarily, liens and
other secured interests survive bankruptcy. See Farrey v.
Sanderfoot, 500 U.S. 291, 297, 111 S. Ct. 1825, 1829 (1991); see
also 11 U.S.C. § 522(c)(2)(B) (“Unless the case is dismissed,
property exempted under this section is not liable during or after
the case for any debt of the debtor that arose . . . before the
commencement of the case, except . . . a tax lien, notice of which
is properly filed[.]”); Isom v. United States (In re Isom), 901
F.2d 744, 745 (9th Cir. 1990) (“The liability for the amount
assessed remains legally enforceable even where the underlying tax
debt is discharged in the bankruptcy proceeding. A discharge in
bankruptcy prevents the I.R.S. from taking any action to collect
the debt as a personal liability of the debtor. . . . [T]heir
property remains liable for a debt secured by a valid lien,
including a tax lien.”). There is no discussion in 11 U.S.C.
§ 541(c)(2) of liens, tax or otherwise, that attach before
bankruptcy discharge. Repeatedly, courts have been willing to
attach liens to post-discharge benefits despite the “fresh start”
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policy of the bankruptcy scheme. See, e.g., Connor v. United
States (In re Connor), 27 F.3d 365 (9th Cir. 1994); In re Wesche,
193 B.R. 76 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1996). The IRS therefore has a valid
tax lien against Orr’s interest in the Trust if that lien attached
before Orr’s personal liabilities were extinguished in bankruptcy.
The dispositive issue is, therefore, the question of whether a
federal tax lien in this situation attaches to a spendthrift trust
beneficiary’s equitable interest in the trust itself or to each
individual distribution as it is paid to the beneficiary. Both
parties to this appeal claim support for their respective positions
in Dallas.
Dallas involved a federal tax liability owed by Carolyn
Maxwell, arising from several stock transactions. Mrs. Maxwell was
a resident of England, so the government sought to enforce the tax
liability by imposing a lien on her interest in a spendthrift
trust, of which the Dallas National Bank was trustee. As in the
customary trust arrangement, the trustee possessed legal title to
the trust funds. Mrs. Maxwell received monthly income payments
from the trust. This Court concluded that the government had a
valid lien, and explained the result as follows:
Mrs. Maxwell has no title to the corpus of any
property other than the profits after they have
accrued and have been passed to her account and
made available to her by the Trustee. In other
words, after “the net revenues,” amounting to
approximately $54 per month, accrue, or are set
apart and become payable to her, such net revenues
then belong to her and are then subject to the lien
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of the Government for taxes, and are available as
an appropriate res in a proceeding in rem by the
Government to have a lien for delinquent taxes
declared and enforced against such revenues.
The Government is entitled to a lien upon
these monthly payments of net revenue in the hands
of the Trustee, by virtue of the law as stated in
26 U.S.C.A.Int.Rev.Code, §§ 3670 and 3671.
Under the holding of [Glass City Bank], that
the lien of the United States attaches to
after-acquired property, we think that such lien
will continue to be fastened on the monthly income
from the trust as it becomes payable to the
taxpayer.
Dallas I, 152 F.2d at 585 (footnote omitted). In a following
appeal (Dallas III), Circuit Judge Edwin R. Holmes of Yazoo City,
Mississippi, noted in a specially concurring opinion that:
The taxpayer is the equitable owner for life
of an undivided interest in Texas realty, which
under local law is not subject to seizure or sale
for ordinary debts incurred by the taxpayer; but
this does not mean that testamentary restraints
against alienation should prevail against the
fastening of a lien for federal income taxes on the
taxpayer’s equitable interest in the trust estate.
We are, in fact, holding the contrary in this case.
Dallas III, 167 F.2d at 469 (Holmes, J., specially concurring).
Orr emphasizes the language in Dallas I that “such lien will
continue to be fastened on the monthly income from the trust as it
becomes payable to the taxpayer,” 152 F.2d at 585 (emphasis
supplied), in support of his contention that no valid lien would
exist until he actually received a distribution from the trust, and
because through bankruptcy he has discharged his personal liability
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for the tax, the lien can no longer continue to attach to future
distributions. See, e.g., Connor, 27 F.3d at 366. The IRS
emphasizes the language in Dallas III indicating that the lien
attaches to Orr’s “equitable interest in the trust estate,” 167
F.2d at 469 (emphasis supplied), and therefore precedes and
survives Orr’s bankruptcy.
The Dallas panels did not need to confront the question
presented by Orr’s case. The trust distributions paid to Mrs.
Maxwell fell into the category of after-acquired property at the
time she received them. There was no bankruptcy, as there is in
this case, to discharge the debtor’s personal liability for the
taxes owed. As Mrs. Maxwell received each new distribution from
the trust, a new § 6321 lien would fasten onto the distribution so
long as she owed the taxes. The law was settled in Glass City Bank
that such after-acquired property became subject to a statutory
federal tax lien on the debtor’s “property,” and thus there was no
need to decide whether the lien could have attached earlier. The
Dallas I opinion specifically invokes Glass City Bank to justify
its result. Thus, the opinion of Judge Holmes (which was not
joined by any other judge) that the tax lien validly attached to
Mrs. Maxwell’s equitable interest in the trust was not necessary to
the decision in that case.
B.
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The issue addressed by Judge Holmes, specially concurring in
the Dallas III appeal, is squarely presented by Orr’s case, because
the only way the IRS can collect from Orr’s trust distributions is
if the tax lien on future distributions attached before Orr’s
personal liability was discharged through bankruptcy. With the
issue now squarely presented, fifty-one years later, we conclude
that the dictum announced by Judge Holmes was correct. Texas law
recognizes the validity of the Trust’s spendthrift clause. Texas
law acknowledges that a spendthrift trust beneficiary possesses an
equitable ownership interest in the trust corpus. And Texas law
respects the Trust’s bestowal upon Orr of a fully vested right to
receive distributions from the trust on at least an annual basis.
These interests constitute “property” or “rights to property” under
§ 6321, even though the beneficiary does not possess total,
exclusive, fee-simple ownership.
The broad scope of 26 U.S.C. § 6321, encompasses “property” in
this sense, as befits that statute’s purpose of tax collection, see
National Bank of Commerce, 472 U.S. at 719-20, 105 S. Ct. at 2923-
24. Courts have routinely concluded that § 6321 tax liens attach
to other types of equitable interests. See, e.g., Southern Bank v.
IRS, 770 F.2d 1001, 1003, 1009-10 (11th Cir. 1985) (equitable right
of redemption); Runkel v. United States, 527 F.2d 914, 916 (9th
Cir. 1975) (equitable interest in real property); United States v.
Johansson, 447 F.2d 702, 705 (5th Cir. 1971) (equitable lien);
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United States v. Klimek, 952 F. Supp. 1100, 1112 (E.D. Pa. 1997)
(equitable ownership of real property); Bank of Lyons v. Cavanaugh
(In re Cavanaugh), 153 B.R. 224, 228 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1993)
(equitable interest in a land trust).*
Moreover, the attachment of the lien in this case is not at
odds with the Texas policy of respecting the wishes of the creator
of a spendthrift trust by enforcing the trust’s anti-alienation
provisions. The wishes of the creator of the spendthrift trust are
to ensure a stream of income for the beneficiary by preventing the
beneficiary from leveraging present purchasing power out of future
payments. The state may (and Texas does) think it advisable to
*
Texas Commerce Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. United States, 908 F.
Supp. 453 (S.D. Tex. 1995), relied upon by Orr, is not to the
contrary. Texas Commerce Bank involved an attempt by the IRS to
levy upon the interest of Ellanor Ann Fondren in a trust in which
payments to her were left to the sole discretion of the trustee
until the year 2002. The court ruled that distributions made to
Fondren in trustee’s discretion did not violate the levy because
Fondren had no interest to which the levy could attach. Unlike the
the spendthrift trust in this case, the discretionary nature of the
trustee’s power in Texas Commerce Bank meant that the beneficiary
had no property or rights to property to which the levy could
attach. And although the trust provided that Fondren would be
entitled to future income distributions that right was “clearly a
contingent, non-vested, and non-determinable right” at the time the
IRS imposed its levy.
We also note that it is not clear from the Texas Commerce Bank
opinion why the Glass City Bank and Dallas principles of tax liens’
attachment to after-acquired property, including distributions from
a spendthrift trust, would not have applied to the trustee’s
distributions to Fondren. In any case, Texas Commerce Bank does
not support Orr’s contention that a vested right to future payments
from a spendthrift trust cannot be property or rights to property
susceptible to attachment by a tax lien.
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respect the wishes of the creator of the trust by enforcing the
spendthrift term. Creditors in Texas are on notice of the
unenforceability of any loan agreement with a trust beneficiary
that purports to grant an interest in future distributions from a
spendthrift trust. The risk of default is thereby placed on the
shoulders of creditors who rely on the spendthrift trustee’s income
stream.
The government does not stand in the shoes of an ordinary
creditor seeking to attach distributions from a spendthrift trust.
Consistent with the imperative nature of tax collection, § 6321
gives the government an advantage over ordinary creditors in
collection matters. Moreover, the rationale for shifting the risk
of default to creditors, who ought to examine the terms of a trust
before agreeing to accept the right to future distributions as
collateral, does not apply to the government, which imposes the
income tax unilaterally and without reference to spendthrift
protections. The wishes of the creator of a spendthrift trust
cannot overcome the government’s need to collect tax and a
spendthrift trust beneficiary’s duty to pay tax. It does not make
sense to permit the spendthrift trust to be a vehicle for tax
immunity.
Though not dispositive of the meaning of “property and rights
to property” under § 6321, we further note that Texas law supports
the classification of Orr’s interest in the Trust as “property.”
In determining the ordinary meaning of the term “property” for the
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purposes of statutory construction, the Supreme Court of Texas has
characterized it as extending to “every species of valuable right
and interest.” State v. Public Util. Comm’n, 883 S.W.2d 190, 200
(Tex. 1994) (citing Womack v. Womack, 141 Tex. 299, 172 S.W.2d 307,
308 (1943)); cf. Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § 111.004(12) (Vernon 1995)
(for purposes of the Trust Code: “‘Property’ means any type of
property, whether real, tangible or intangible, legal, or
equitable. The term also includes choses in action, claims, and
contract rights, including a contractual right to receive death
benefits as designated beneficiary under a policy of insurance,
contract, employees’ trust, retirement account, or other
arrangement.”).
We are aware of authority suggesting that “[i]n enforcing
§ 6321, appellate courts have interpreted ‘property’ or ‘rights to
property’ to mean state-law rights or interests that have pecuniary
value and are transferable.” Drye Family 1995 Trust v. United
States, 152 F.3d 892, 895 (8th Cir. 1998) (citing United States v.
Stonehill, 83 F.3d 1156, 1159-60 (9th Cir. 1996); In re Kimura, 969
F.2d 806, 811 (9th Cir. 1992); In re Terwilliger’s Catering Plus,
Inc., 911 F.2d 1168, 1171-72 (6th Cir. 1990); 21 West Lancaster
Corp. v. Main Line Restaurant, Inc., 790 F.2d 354, 357-58 (3d Cir.
1986); Southern Bank v. IRS, 770 F.2d 1001, 1005 (11th Cir. 1985)),
cert. granted on other grounds, 119 S. Ct. 1453 (1999). We think
this test takes an unnecessarily narrow view of the scope of
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§ 6321. In particular, we know of no controlling authority which
compels the conclusion that transferability is a necessary incident
of “property and rights to property” under the statute. Indeed, a
persuasive scholarly treatment of the question comes to the
opposite conclusion. See Note, Property Subject to the Federal Tax
Lien, 77 Harv. L. Rev. 1485, 1485-87 (1964).
The terms “property and rights to property” have no statutory
definition. This Court has noted in the past that in crafting the
tax lien statute, “Congress did not attempt to define the
commercial cosmos. Rather, it was perfectly willing to let
contemporary transactions be analyzed to determine whether or nor
the delinquent taxpayer had any part of a bundle of rights of
commercial value, to which the tax lien would then attach.”
Randall v. H. Nakashima & Co., Ltd., 542 F.2d 270, 278 (5th Cir.
1976). And it bears repeating that the Supreme Court has held that
“Congress meant to reach every interest in property that a taxpayer
might have.” National Bank of Commerce, 472 U.S. at 719, 105 S.
Ct. at 2924. Each case requires individual consideration, and we
conclude that despite the nontransferability of a spendthrift trust
beneficiary’s interest in the trust, Orr’s interest still possesses
sufficient characteristics of “property” or “rights to property” to
fall within the scope of § 6321.
With reference to Texas law, we conclude that at the time the
liens were filed, Orr possessed equitable and legal rights to
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future income distributions from the Trust. With reference to
federal law, we conclude that those rights constituted “property”
or “rights to property” subject to attachment pursuant to § 6321.
Because the federal tax lien attached to Orr’s rights to future
payments at the time of the filing of the lien, Orr’s subsequent
bankruptcy does not affect the validity of the lien against Orr’s
equitable ownership of the Trust and legal right to receive income
distributions from the Trust. The tax lien is therefore valid
against future income distributions.
IV.
In sum, we conclude that we may exercise appellate
jurisdiction in this case. The subject matter of the appeal is a
discrete issue within a larger bankruptcy case, which was presented
in the context of an adversary action between the parties. The
order of the district court settled the sole issue in contention.
Jurisdiction is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 158(d).
Furthermore, the IRS has a valid lien against future income
distributions to Orr from the Trust. Under state law, Orr
possesses an equitable interest in the trust corpus and legal
entitlement to future income distributions from that trust. These
interests constitute “property” or “rights to property” to which a
26 U.S.C. § 6321 tax lien may attach.
AFFIRMED.
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IRS v. Orr
Combined Opinion