[Tomcat68]

My point is simple. If she owed the feds that money, she'd have to pay. I hope she gets a good chunk of change. Maybe not $22m, but I hope she gets a darn good chunk.

The problem with that is that they intentionally kept it in their family. I'm sure if it were taken to the authorities shortly after the war all would have been paid and nothing would have come of this. Most likely at the time their family decided that the note itself was worth more than the monetary value.

I agree that if you had borrowed from the government, they would want their money back as well, but imagine you take out a Federal Stafford Loan for college and you are unable to repay all but $300 of it by the time of your death. The government wouldn't wait 147 years and then go to your nearest living relative and request $22 million.