Department of Taxation v. Knell

77 N.E.2d 107, 50 Ohio Law. Abs. 193, 1947 Ohio App. LEXIS 794
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided November 20, 1947·No. No. 4067·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OPINION

By HORNBECK, J.

The appeal on questions of law from an order of the Probate Court denying the appellant, the relief sought, according to the statement of counsel for appellant, raises the following question: “Whether or not a certain declaration of trust made by Thom A. Scott on the 26th day of December, 1934, with Reichmann P. Knell, Jesse B. Martin and Nellie M. Scott, as trustees, constitutes a testamentary distribution of his estate to such an extent that it was made in contemplation of death within the meaning of §5332 GC.”

It is the contention of the appellant that the successions passing under the trust are subject to the inheritance tax under the following paragraphs of §5332 GC:

Sec. 5332 GC: “A tax is hereby levied upon the succession to any property passing, in trust or otherwise, to or for the usé of a person, institution or' corporation, in the following cases:

'3. When the succession is to property from a resident, or to property within this state from a nonresident, by deed, grant, sale, assignment or gift, made without a valuable consideration substantially equivalent in money or money’s worth to the full value of such property:

(a) In contemplation of the death of the grantor, vendor, • assignor, or donor, or,'

(b) Intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after such death.”

The declaration of trust, of date December 26, 1934, was not made by the settlor, the terms and conditions under which it is accepted are set forth and it is signed by the trustees. But [195]*195contemporaneously therewith, it appears from the record that deeds and bills of sale for all property included in the trust res were duly executed by the settlor to. the trustees, and although the deeds are not made a part of the bill of exceptions, they are identified therein. A short time before the declaration of trust was formally promulgated, the settlor wrote a letter to Mr. E. N. Huggins, his attorney, wherein his purposes to make the trust, the reasons therefor, and some of the beneficiaries to be named, therein, were set forth. Upon the whole record it fairly appears that the execution of the trust was a consummation of a-long-time desire and purpose of Mr. Scott.

At 'the time the trust was created, Mr. Scott, then a resident of Bexley, Ohio, was seventy-two years of age. For more than half a century he had lived in Cadiz, Harrison County, where he was born. He had been closely and actively identified with the business and civic life of this community, was proud of its history and kindly and generously disposed toward its residents and institutions. He amassed a fortune in the manufacture of farm machinery. He had been the principal executive in two corporations and was active in these enterprises for many years prior to his death, which occurred in an automobile accident in December, 1944, when he was returning to his home from a business trip. He enjoyed good health and was active in physical pursuits and there is no evidence whatever that he had been sick or suffered from any disease or affliction on or about the time that he executed the trust, or subsequent thereto. A little more than a month following the declaration of the trust Dr. Charles W. MeGavran of Golumbus, Ohio, reporting to Mr. Scott on a physical and clinical check-up, reported that,

“For a man of seventy-two years, you pass a most satisfactory examination in every particular, and we are sending you away with the statement that you need no medicine, whatsoever.”

Without setting forth any more of the factual development, suffice to say, that there is nothing in the record from which it could be logically inferred that at the time Mr. Scott completed the trust he contemplated death or that the imminence of death operated at all in shaping his action respecting the trust.

His death occurring more than two years after the execution of the trust, there is no presumption that it was made in contemplation of death and the burden of establishing [196]*196such purpose was upon the Commission. Tax Commission v. Lamson, Exr., 43 Oh Ap 510.

The test to be applied to determine whether the trust was executed in contemplation of the death df the settlor is set out in the 4th syllabus of Tax Commission v. Parker, 117 Oh St 315, 158 N. E. 89:

“The controlling fact in determining whether a transferor made the transfer of property in contemplation of death is whether the purpose of the transferor was to distribute or partially distribute his estate, or was simply to do an act of generosity or kindness.”

Also, In Re, Estate of Robinson, 145 Oh St 55, 60 N. E. (2d) 615.

It is contended that the-motive of Mr. Scott in executing the trust was to. make a partial distribution of his estate in contemplation of death. His estate aggregated approximately $1,200,000.00 and the property which passed under the trust indenture was $471,101.56. Some seventeen beneficiaries were named, among whom were Mr. Scott’s wife and daughter, some relatives, blood and collateral, and some who were but friends. At the termination of the trust, one year after December 31, 1975, the trustees were directed to assign, transfer and convey unto the Methodist Episcopal Church of Cadiz, all the trust property of every nature and description then in their hands or under their control. A portion of the principal of the fund sufficient to produce an annual income of $5,000.00 for a pastor’s annual salary, was required to be invested in approved securities. Three hundred thousand dollars of the trust fund was to be used by the Church for the erection of a new edifice and the remainder, to be known as the Thom A. Scott Memorial Fund, was to be invested by the Trustees of-said Church and the income used for the upkeep of the church property. There is further provision that if the gift to the Church should fail, the Trustees are authorized to employ the funds to create a Home for Old Ladies in the City of Cadiz, or for any other religious or charitable institution which they in their judgment may select.

The trust provided an annual income of $7,500.00 for Susie P. Scott, wife, and a like sum to Nellie M. Scott, daughter of the settlor, and that in the event of the death of either wife or daughter, during the tenure of the trust, the survivor shall receive the net income f rom the trust up to. $15,900.00 annually. Further, that should both the wife and the daughter [197]*197die before said Thom A. Scott, he shall receive, during his lifetime, the net income of said trust estate up to the amount of $15,000.00 per annum.

In the will of Mr. Scott, executed October 15, 1942, by Item 1, he gave all of his furniture, household goods and personal effects, located at his home in Bexley, Ohio, and at his home in Altadena, California, to his daughter, Nellie M. Scott, who survived him, his wife having died before the making of the will. As a part of the item making the bequest to the daughter, he used this language:

“Due to the fact that I have heretofore provided for my daughter by way of a trust fund, I have given consideration thereto in making this will.”

Some of the devisees and legatees of the will were the beneficiaries under the trust, but in no other item of the will, save that referring to the daughter, Nellie M. Scott, is any mention made of the trust.

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Department of Taxation v. Knell, 77 N.E.2d 107, 50 Ohio Law. Abs. 193, 1947 Ohio App. LEXIS 794 (Ohio Ct. App. 1947).

77 N.E.2d 107 (Department of Taxation v. Knell) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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