Agassiz v. Trefry

260 F. 226, 1919 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1001
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJuly 14, 1919
DocketNos. 879, 892
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 260 F. 226 (Agassiz v. Trefry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Agassiz v. Trefry, 260 F. 226, 1919 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1001 (D. Mass. 1919).

Opinion

ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.

These are two bills in equity brought to restrain the tax commissioner of Massachusetts from assessing upon and collecting taxes from the plaintiff for the years 1917 and 1918 under the Massachusetts Income Tax Act of 1916, c. 269.

The plaintiff alleges that he was domiciled in the city of Newport, R. I., during both of those years, and therefore not subject to personal or income taxes in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Motions to dismiss were denied, thus determining in the plaintiff’s favor all questions except that of the plaintiff’s domicile.

That the plaintiff is entitled to relief if legally domiciled in Rhode Island is now', in effect, conceded by the Attorney General of the commonwealth.

Compare Dunn v. Trefry, 260 Fed. 147,- C. C. A. -, decided by the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit May 26, 1919; Smyth v. Ames, 169 U. S. 466, 517, 18 Sup. Ct. 418, 42 L. Ed. 819; Union Pacific v. County Commissioners, 247 U. S. 282, 38 Sup. Ct. 510, 62 L. Ed. 1110; Nevada-California Power Co. v. Hamilton (D. C.) 235 Fed. 317, 339; Ex parte Young, 209 U. S. 123, 28 Sup. Ct. 441, 52 L. Ed. 714, 13 L. R. A. (N. S.) 932, 14 Ann. Cas. 764.

As it is admitted that the plaintiff was domiciled in Hamilton, Mass., until the fall of 1914 or spring of 1915, the sole question remaining to be determined is whether he has effectually changed his domicile from Hamilton to Newport. The salient facts are as follow’s :

The plaintiff’s father died in 1910 domiciled in Newport. He left a large estate, part of which was a homestead in Newport assessed for about $175,000. The plaintiff had spent much of his youth in Newport. In this homestead, after his father’s death, were furniture, pictures, and other property having both money and sentimental value to the plaintiff, in which he had a one-third interest. Under the father’s will his three sons were trustees. The plaintiff’s two brothers have long been domiciled in Newport. The father’s estate was settled in Newport. One of his brothers is a bachelor; the other brother has no children. This homestead, subject to some sort of a contingent interest in Harvard College, passed under the father’s will to the three sons. Prior to the plaintiff’s attempt to change his domiciliary status, it was the practice each summer to have this homestead opened in the spring and equipped with the servants of the bachelor brother; the expenses being shared by the three brothers. During the winter the place was kept heated, to avoid dampness, and was in [228]*228charge of a caretaker and his wife. After it was opened for the summer, each of the three brothers or some member of the family of the two married brothers was accustomed to go to the Newport house and spend some part of each summer or fall season there. The plaintiff and his family spent all or a large part of the summers of 1910 and 1911 in tire Newport homestead. Neither the plaintiff nor his family has spent a summer there since 1911.

The plaintiff owns, and has for many years owned, a substantial estate in Hamilton, Mass., assessed for $35,000 to $40,000; also, a house in Boston assessed for $60,000 to $70,000. His family, now consisting of his wife and one unmarried daughter (he also has one married daughter), have habitually spent their winters in Boston and their summers in Hamilton. The Hamilton place has not ordinarily been kept open or heated during the winter, although horses in charge of a caretaker are kept on the estate.

The plaintiff is president of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, and president or high official of various other mining companies whose properties are mainly located in Michigan. The home office of these companies is in Boston; the directors’ meetings are held in Boston; but most or all of the companies also have offices in New York. The plaintiff’s chief place of business is therefore Boston, but increasingly of recent years he is in New York. He also spends no inconsiderable time in Michigan. In New York he has for some years maintained an apartment. It thus appears that, prior to his attempted change of domicile, the plaintiff had four residences or places fit and convenient for a dwelling place; one in Hamilton, one in Boston, one in Newport, and one in New York.

In November, 1914, the plaintiff, under the advice of counsel, undertook to change his domicile from Hamilton, Mass., to Newport, R. I. In that month he notified the tax assessors of Newport that thereafter he should claim his residence in Newport. The assessors acted on this as a sufficient notice, and have since that time assessed the plaintiff as domiciled in Newport. He has paid personal taxes there for four years. The tax authorities also increased the assessment upon the father’s trust estate, which had previously been assessed on the basis of two only of the three trustees being domiciled in Rhode Island. About the same time, the plaintiff and his two brothers purchased the contingent interest of Harvard College in the Newport homestead. He also bought a small lot of land in order that as a separate landowner he might have certain voting rights accruing under the laws of Rhode Island to landowners. He registered in Newport as a voter and has voted there since the spring of 1915. He also opened in Newport a bank account to which he has been accustomed to transfer from his main bank account kept in Boston funds enough to cover bills accruing in and about Newport. He also transferred his securities from a safe deposit box in Boston to one in Providence, R. I. In March, 1915, the plaintiff notified the assessors of Hamilton that hi had changed his domicile to Newport. The Hamilton tax authorities accepted this notice as sufficient, and since that time have assessed no personal tax upon him in Hamilton. No per[229]*229sonal tax had been assessed on him in Massachusetts since that notice until the defendant tax commissioner undertook to collect the state income tax for 1917 and 1918. When the .plaintiff gave his notice to the tax authorities of Newport and of Hamilton, he was either in New York or Boston; probably in Boston. His family at that time was not in Newport.

Under .the advice of counsel, on April 1, 1915, and probably on the same date in 1916, 1917, and 1918, so-called “tax days,” the plaintiff was in Newport, but not at the homestead in Newport. The only other time, when during the year 1915 he or his family were in Newport, was during three weeks in September. At that time servants were sent down to Newport from the Hamilton place, but the Hamilton house was not closed. During the year 1916, the plaintiffs family was not in Newport at all. He was there only a day or two to cover “tax day.” In 1917, the plaintiff sent some of his servants down for a week in August, and he or some of his family, or both, were there for about a week. In 1918, except for his presence on tax day, neither he nor his family was in Newport at all.

[1] It thus appears that since the attempted change of domicile the living and business habits of the plaintiff and his family have not been, changed. The actual dwelling is in Hamilton and Boston, with considerable periods of time spent in Michigan, except that during the war period the plaintiff has in war work spent considerable time in Washington, D. C.

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In Re the Application of Diamond State Telephone Co.
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Bluebook (online)
260 F. 226, 1919 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1001, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/agassiz-v-trefry-mad-1919.