For once, we’re not talking about Title VII of the Tax Court Rules; no, today it’s discovery in the real-life world. Turns out the late Lonnie has a daughter in Lawrence W. Nelson, III, Deceased, and Jacalyn A. Thompson, Docket No. 18374-15, filed 10/1/21.  And she isn’t the one child of the late Lawrence a/k/a Lonnie and Jacalyn that had heretofore appeared in the filings over the last six (count ’em, six) years.

Back in June, Judge Gale told Jacalyn and IRS’ counsel to report on the status of the estate of the late Lawrence a/k/a Lonnie and who the heirs at law might be. Previously only Jacalyn and her daughter Brittany were known. But IRS ran a title search on certain realty owned by the late Lawrence a/k/a Lonnie, with interesting results.

The title search “… identifies a lien recorded against the [real estate] in December 2016 for spousal or child support payments due from Lonnie Nelson to the County of Tulare…. From a review of the publicly available Superior Court docket, which lists the plaintiff as the County of Tulare and the defendant as Lonnie Nelson, it appears that the case related to the support of a minor child, ANR. In addition, the copy of Mr. Nelson’s death certificate attached to respondent’s Motion to Dismiss states that he was known not only as Lawrence W. Nelson, III, but also as Lonnie Nelson. It thus appears that Mr. Nelson may have been the same person who was the defendant in the Superior Court case associated with the lien recorded against petitioners’ property.” Order, at pp. 1-2. (Footnote omitted, but it says ANR isn’t a minor any more; I’ve left out her name, as she isn’t a party…yet).

So let Jacalyn tell Judge Gale why Lawrence’s estate is insolvent, and let IRS’ counsel track down Ms. ANR. And if Jacalyn has any idea where Ms. ANR might be, let her likewise enlighten Jiudge Gale.

Yes, Tax Court is truly a voyage of discovery. File a petition, and you never know what you’re going to find.