Monday, May 16, 2011

An 'Innocent Spouse' Vs. the IRS

Bill Dunlap and Jim Kimsey
 
John Howard Joynt III wasn’t meant to live life the way the rest of us do. Like other trust fund types, his life seemed like a fairytale: a weekend house on the Chesapeake Bay, a sprawling home in the Virginia countryside and his very own popular watering hole called Nathans, a landmark in the heart of Georgetown.  

As his widow Carol describes it, “He was many things I was not: a child of money and privilege, casual about work but serious about living well.”

That lifestyle collapsed when Howard died unexpectedly in 1997. Soon after, Carol -- a former television producer -- became, legally, an "innocent spouse" when her husband's financial transgressions came to light.

Her new memoir follows her financial struggles and her battle with the IRS that socked her with a $3 million tax bill, making her a federal tax fraud defendant.  Read more here and watch the video:
http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/niteside/121887169.html