Signature Was Coerced

Ellen Ann Hinckley said she didn't owe additional taxes. She had signed the returns only because her husband became prone to rages "like a rabid dog."

Hinckley, who had degrees in nutrition and art history, worked as a nutritionist and a teacher. She stopped working outside her home when she married. Her husband, who had business and law degrees, earned $360,000 a year as president of Union Central life Insurance Co.

Because of a bicycle accident, Hinckley's husband suffered severe head trauma that took seven operations to repair. He became forgetful and irrational and was fired. Then his only income was from his pension of $90,000 per year.

Soon, Hinckley would discover her husband was not the man she thought he was.

The Florida couple moved from the community where they had been respected members and raised their four children. He couldn't find another job, and she felt isolated after leaving all her friends. They found themselves alone for the first time.

Hinckley said that sometime during this upheaval, she found 100 typewritten pages of notes about a "secret life" her husband had lived for 25 years. She didn't explain what this secret life was, but it was serious enough for her to get a divorce, after 37 years of marriage. After that, his mental capacity diminished further, requiring nursing home care.

You would think things couldn't get worse, right? Wrong.

The Internal Revenue Service demanded she pay taxes on income her former husband had failed to report on their joint returns. He considered his pension nontaxable.

Because her ex-husband was unable to pay, the IRS said she was liable.

In court, Hinckley claimed she didn't owe the taxes because she signed their joint returns under duress. She explained: After the accident, she noticed the decline of her husband's self-control. He was forceful and belligerent. He would throw and destroy her valuable items. He was cruel to their 2-year old granddaughter.

He behaved erratically, once threatening to kill himself. And he grew belligerent when she questioned him about their tax returns. She signed to placate him.

The IRS dismissed his rages as mere shouting and arm waving. It said she didn't prove incidents or threats at the important time: when she signed.

Duress, said the judge, isn't limited to coercion when signing. Long-term intimidation as here, is also duress. The court said Hinckley didn't have to pay the taxes.