Drye v. United States

Rohn Drye (defendant... plaintiff in this appeal) owed the IRS roughly $325,000, which had filed liens against all his property and rights to property. When his mother died intestate, Drye disclaimed his inheritance as her sole heir to keep the roughly $233,000 estate away from those liens; under state disclaimer law, his interest then passed to his daughter Theresa as if he had predeceased his mother. Theresa placed the funds in a spendthrift trust benefiting herself and her parents, shielding the assets from creditors. Drye argued that state law, which he said controlled, let his inheritance pass to his daughter free of the federal tax liens.