John v. United States (138 F. Supp. 89, 1956)

GRUBB, District Judge.

This case is before the Court on a motion of the defendant for judgment on the pleadings brought under Rule 12(c), 28 U.S.C.A. The facts as appear in the complaint are as follows: The plaintiffs are the residuary .legatees under the will of Fred A. Miller, deceased. His will was admitted to probate on the 27th of December, 1943. In 1945 the executor filed an estate tax return to which the government took exception. The executor had valued the stock of the Miller Brewing Company at $300 per share. The government, however, claimed that the stock should be valued at $600 a share. The executor filed a protest of the $600 share valuation, the outcome of which was an agreement dated October 24, 1946, between the government and the executor that the Miller Brewing Company ■ stock should be valued at $450 a share. That agreement was evidenced by the signing of a Form 870 agreement. That agreement was accepted on behalf of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue by Albin Pearson, head of the Chicago Division of the Technical Staff. It does not appear that the agreement was ever approved by the Secretary or Under Secretary of the Treasury or by a