Easter House v. United States

12 Cl. Ct. 476, 60 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5119, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 98
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJune 10, 1987
DocketNo. 265-86T
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 12 Cl. Ct. 476 (Easter House v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Easter House v. United States, 12 Cl. Ct. 476, 60 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5119, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 98 (cc 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

LYDON, Judge:

This is an action for a declaratory judgment pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7428 (1982) (Section 7428 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended)1. In its complaint plaintiff seeks a declaration that it qualifies as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) and therefore is exempt from taxation pursuant to section 501(a). After careful consideration of the parties’ briefs and other submissions, review of the certified administrative record, and oral argument, the court finds plaintiff is not entitled to the relief it requests for the reasons set forth below.

Facts

Plaintiff, Easter House, is an “Illinois Not-For-Profit Corporation”. It was originally incorporated on May 5, 1960. Since 1962, plaintiff has been licensed by the state of Illinois to operate as an adoption agency. On December 12, 1983, plaintiff’s attorney sent a letter and an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form 1023, “Application for Recognition of Exemption” by which plaintiff sought a determination letter from the IRS recognizing plaintiff as an organization described in section 501(c)(3). On June 7, 1985, after much communication between plaintiff and the IRS, a proposed ruling denying plaintiff’s application was issued by the IRS. By letter dated July 2, 1985, plaintiff, through its attorneys, protested the proposed ruling. This letter was supplemented with letters dated September 26, 1985 and November 11, 1985, both of which included several attachments. On February 5, 1986 the IRS issued a final adverse ruling as to plaintiff’s tax exempt status. See sections 501(a) and 501(c)(3). On April 25, 1986 plaintiff filed suit in this court, seeking the above described declaratory judgment.

Plaintiff describes its activities as a “continuum” which starts with its provision of prenatal care for pregnant women and continues through the delivery of the baby to [479]*479the ultimate goal of placing the child with adoptive parents. This process begins with plaintiffs search for pregnant women. It places advertisements in the yellow pages for telephone use in metropolitan Chicago and other cities in Illinois directed at “mothers-in-need.”2 At one time plaintiff contemplated newspaper advertising but had no plans to do so as of 1984 or 1985. However, in its letter of August 14, 1984 (or August 15, 1984) to the IRS describing its activities, plaintiff advised that the general public was notified of the availability of its services “primarily through yellow pages and newspaper advertising * * *.” In some instances, women are referred to plaintiff by professionals such as doctors and social workers, and in other instances “word-of-mouth” produced “mothers-in-need”.

Contact with plaintiff is usually initiated by a woman with an unwanted pregnancy. A woman’s first contact with plaintiff is through one of its social workers who counsels the woman as to her various options concerning her pregnancy. If the woman decides to carry her baby to term, and then place it up for adoption through plaintiff, one of plaintiff’s case workers meets with the woman to determine if and how much medical, housing and other financial help the woman will need. It is important to note that plaintiff provides services beyond initial counseling to the woman only if she is going to put her child up for adoption through plaintiff and demonstrates a financial need for such services. Plaintiff does not provide financial support or services to biological parents or mothers-to-be who already have access to such services or the financial means to obtain such services. Plaintiff investigates the financial means of the mother-to-be to see if she is eligible for insurance (medical, health, hospital) and whether financial support is available from family or other sources. In 1984, 86 percent of those women who had an initial counseling with one of plaintiff’s case workers received monetary assistance of some kind from plaintiff. The vast majority of these women were unwed and unemployed.

Generally, medical expenses of the biological mother who decides later not to place her child up for adoption through plaintiff are direct obligations of said mother. In some circumstances, however, plaintiff has voluntarily, or by prior agreement, paid medical expenses of a biological mother who did not place a child for adoption through plaintiff. The record does not indicate the amount of such voluntary expenditures.

Plaintiff provides a comprehensive group of services for mothers-to-be who intended to place their newborns for adoption through plaintiff. These services include: (1) facilitating and financing health and medical care; (2) nutritional counseling; (3) referrals to other social welfare agencies; (4) housing during pregnancy; (5) financial assistance for food and clothing; (6) delivery room non-medical assistance; (7) emotional support during pregnancy; (8) post-delivery counseling; and (9) foster care of the child from the time of delivery until the child is placed with the adoptive parents. These services are all provided to help ensure the health of the child.

The child’s health is important to plaintiff because it can charge the adoptive parents the full adoption fee for a healthy baby. If an unhealthy baby is born, plaintiff might not be able to place the child with adoptive parents. Additionally plaintiff encounters medical expenses when it has an unhealthy child it cannot place. In some instances, plaintiff has charged a reduced fee for those children who are difficult to place because of age, health, race or “similar circumstances.” Plaintiff emphasizes to those interested in its adoption services the prenatal care it provides the mothers and the resulting quality of the children they deliver.

In 1985 the total fee charged by plaintiff for placing a child with adoptive parents was $16,500.3 All prospective parents are [480]*480charged an “initial service fee” of $1,500. This fee, usually nonrefundable4 was termed “regrettable” by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. This initial service fee is for plaintiffs investigation of the prospective parents and plaintiffs “home-study” course for the prospective parents. This investigation focuses, inter alia, on the educational and financial status and ability to pay of the adoptive parents. Plaintiff obtains the recent income tax returns of applicants for children to verify their income status and inquiry is made into their total assets and liabilities.

The adoption placement fee, as indicated previously, was increased to $15,000 in 1985. This figure represented a $7,000 increase from the fee of $8,000 charged by plaintiff in 1981.5 The record does not show that plaintiff experienced an 87.5 percent increase in expenses relative to said fee increase during this period.

One result of plaintiffs fee structure was to put its adoption service beyond the reach of a sizeable segment of the population. Thus, qualified applicants who cannot afford to pay $16,500 are unable to adopt through plaintiff or, at best, reduced to taking a problem placement at a lower placement fee.

Plaintiff concedes that in most cases the fees paid by the adoptive parents more than cover the costs of the services it provided mother, child and adoptive parents.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Partners in Charity, Inc. v. Commissioner
141 T.C. No. 2 (U.S. Tax Court, 2013)
Family Trust of Massachusetts, Inc. v. United States
892 F. Supp. 2d 149 (District of Columbia, 2012)
Asmark Institute, Inc. v. Commissioner
486 F. App'x 566 (Sixth Circuit, 2012)
New Dynamics Foundation v. United States
70 Fed. Cl. 782 (Federal Claims, 2006)
Gateway Equipment Corp. v. United States
247 F. Supp. 2d 299 (W.D. New York, 2003)
Vons Companies, Inc. v. United States
51 Fed. Cl. 1 (Federal Claims, 2001)
St. Matthew Publishing, Inc. v. United States
41 Fed. Cl. 142 (Federal Claims, 1998)
City of Galveston v. United States
33 Fed. Cl. 685 (Federal Claims, 1995)
Airlie Foundation, Inc. v. United States
55 F.3d 684 (D.C. Circuit, 1995)
Airlie Foundation, Inc. v. United States
826 F. Supp. 537 (District of Columbia, 1993)
Solomon v. Hall-Brooke Foundation, No. Icz-Cv-83 213998 (Feb. 11, 1992)
1992 Conn. Super. Ct. 1520 (Connecticut Superior Court, 1992)
Living Faith, Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
950 F.2d 365 (Seventh Circuit, 1991)
Church of Spiritual Technology v. United States
18 Cl. Ct. 247 (Court of Claims, 1989)
Diebold, Inc. v. United States
16 Cl. Ct. 193 (Court of Claims, 1989)
Easter House v. The United States
846 F.2d 78 (Federal Circuit, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
12 Cl. Ct. 476, 60 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5119, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 98, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/easter-house-v-united-states-cc-1987.