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Defining Value in a Formula Gift ClauseDefining Value in a Formula Gift Clause

Nelson provides further instruction.

William H. Frazier, Managing Director, Valuation Services

February 16, 2022

14 Min Read
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There’s something for nearly everyone in the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit opinions in Nelson v. Commissioner.1 Most notably, the cases highlight a dispute over the efficacy of defined value language in gift transfer documents. In this regard, Nelson joins a long list of such cases.2 From a valuation standpoint, the Tax Court dealt with a wide range of issues, including the valuation of holding companies, minority interest discounts and discounts for lack of marketability.

Nelson provides estate planners with further instruction as to how the courts construe the drafting of defined value clauses (DVCs) in gift transfer documents. The most important objective of the DVC is to fix the dollar amount of eq...

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About the Author

William H. Frazier

Managing Director, Valuation Services, Weaver

William H. Frazier, ASA, has over 40 years of experience in valuation, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation advisory services. For the last 15 years, Will's career focus has included valuing family-owned businesses and holding entities, such as family limited partnerships. He has performed valuations for estate and gift taxation, fairness/solvency opinions, bankruptcy and reorganization, disputes related to business transactions and shareholder disputes, family law matters, purchase and sale advisement, employee stock ownership plans, equity compensation, financial reporting, and other litigation, tax and corporate matters. Additionally, Will has served as an expert witness and appraiser in several U.S. Tax Court cases.

Will is a senior member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and former chair of the Government Relations Committee, former treasurer and secretary of the Business Valuations Committee (BVC) and head of ASA’s Task Reform Task Force. From 2008-2011, Will served on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) where he was assigned to the Office of Professional Responsibility. He is currently a member of the Standards Sub-committee of the BVC and is the BVC’s liaison to the Government Relations Committee. He has authored numerous articles on the subject of business valuation for professional and business publications. Will is a frequent speaker and program presenter on the subject of estate and gift tax valuation.