In the 1945 case of Markham, Alien Property Custodian v. Allen et al., the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a California court had jurisdiction to decide on an inheritance dispute involving property seized by the United States government during World War II under the Trading With The Enemy Act. The property in question belonged to a German national who died intestate (without a will) and his potential heirs were also German nationals. Under normal circumstances, they would have been entitled to inherit but due to wartime laws, their assets were confiscated by the US Government's Alien Property Custodian. The Supreme Court ruled that while state courts could determine heirship rights for purposes such as probate administration or estate tax assessment, they did not have jurisdiction over cases where federal law provided for vesting of enemy-owned property in an alien property custodian. It held that only federal courts could adjudicate claims against properties vested in this way because it involved interpretation and application of federal statutes related specifically to war powers.

In the dissenting opinion for Markham, Alien Property Custodian v. Allen et al., Justice Frankfurter disagreed with the majority's interpretation of Section 9(a) of the Trading with Enemy Act. He argued that it was not intended to bar suits against an alien property custodian by American citizens seeking to establish their rights in seized property. Instead, he believed this section was designed only to protect custodians from being sued by enemy aliens whose assets had been confiscated during wartime. According to him, allowing U.S citizens who claim ownership over such properties should be able to challenge these seizures in court without violating the purpose or spirit of this law. Therefore, he contended that Mrs. Allen and other similarly situated individuals should have access to judicial review before their claims are denied outright based on administrative decisions made under potentially questionable circumstances.