Diocese of Olympia, Inc. v. Pemberton

189 Wash. 510
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 25, 1937
DocketNo. 26331
StatusPublished

This text of 189 Wash. 510 (Diocese of Olympia, Inc. v. Pemberton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Diocese of Olympia, Inc. v. Pemberton, 189 Wash. 510 (Wash. 1937).

Opinion

Main, J.

The Diocese of Olympia, Inc., filed a petition in the estate of Sophia E; Henry during the period of probation, in which it was sought to restrain the executors of Mrs. Henry’s estate from paying, and the supervisor of inheritance tax and escheat division of the state from collecting, an inheritance tax.

Mrs. Henry died testate in Seattle, this state, May 9, 1935, being at the time of her death a resident of this state. By the terms of ber will, the National Bank of Commerce and H. Allen Kurtzman were named executors, and, upon the admission of the will to probate, they qualified as such.

Prior to her death, Mrs. Henry entered into a certain trust agreement, dated November 18, 1932, and [512]*512supplemented this by a later agreement, dated December 12, 1934.

The will provided that any and all inheritance taxes and estate taxes which might be levied against or charged to any legatee or devisee, should be paid out of the estate by the executors, and that the bequests and devises should not be reduced by reason of the taxes. After making a number of specific bequests, the testatrix devised the rest, residue and remainder of the estate to the National Bank of Commerce, of Seattle, as trustee under the above mentioned trust agreements. The effect of the provision requiring the executors to pay the taxes would be to reduce the amount to the residuary legatees.

To the petition, a demurrer was interposed and sustained. The petitioner refused to plead further, and elected to stand upon the petition. A judgment was entered dismissing the petition, from which the appeal is taken. Anything that happened with reference to the matter after the demurrer had been sustained and the petition dismissed is of no consequence, as there was not at that time anything before the court.

Two questions are presented, which will be considered in the inverse order from that in which they appear in the appellant’s brief. The first question for determination is whether Bern. Bev. Stat. (Sup.), <§. 11202 [P. C. § 7030-166], being a portion of the revenue act of 1935, is unconstitutional, for the reason that it violates the fourteenth amendment to the Federal constitution, and especially that portion thereof which says that no state shall make or enforce any law which shall deny to any person within this jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Bern. Bev. Stat., § 11202 [P. C. § 7053], as amended by § 106, chapter 180, Laws of 1935, p. 770, provides:

[513]*513“Sec. 2. An inheritance tax shall be imposed on all estates subject to this act and other inheritance tax acts of the State of Washington, at the following rates:
“Class A. Any devise, bequest, legacy, gift or beneficial interest to any property or income therefrom which shall pass to or for the use or benefit of any grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, husband, wife, child or stepchild, or any lineal descendant of the deceased is hereby denominated as class A. On any amount passing to class A in excess of $10,000 up to and including $25,000, 1%; on any amount in excess of $25,000 up to and including $50,000, 2%; on any amount in excess of $50,000 up to and including $100,000, 4% ; on any amount in excess of $100,000 up to and including $200,000, 7%; on any amount in excess of $200,000 up to and including $500,000, 9%; on any amount in excess of $500,000, 10% ;
“Class B. Any devise, bequest, legacy, gift, or beneficial interest to any property or income therefrom which shall pass to or for the use or benefit of any sister or brother is denominated class B. On any amount passing to class B in excess of $1,000 up to and including $5,000, 3%; on any amount in excess of $5,000 up to and including $10,000, 4%; on any amount in excess of $10,000 up to and including $30,000, 7%; on any amount in excess of $30,000 up to and including $50,000, 10%; on any amount in excess of $50,000 up to and including* $100,000, 15%; on any amount in excess of $100,000, 20%;
“Class C. Any inheritance, devise, bequest, legacy, gift or beneficial interest to any property or income therefrom which shall pass to or for the use or benefit of any person or body politic or corporate other than mentioned in class A and class B herein, is hereby denominated class C.
“On any amount passing' to class C up to and including $10,000, 10%; on any amount in excess of $10,000 up to and including $25,000, 15%; on any amount in excess of $25,000 up to and including $50,000, 20%; on any amount above $50,000, 25%.
“The taxes imposed and the exemption with respect [514]*514to each class of beneficiaries shall be apportioned between the beneficiaries in snch class in proportion to the amount receivable by such beneficiary.” (Rem. Rev. Stat. (Sup.), §11202 [P. C. §7030-166].)

It will be observed that the first sentence of the section provides that an inheritance tax shall be imposed on “all estates” subject to this act and other inheritance tax laws of the state of Washington. After making provisions for three classes, the section concludes with the declaration that the taxes imposed and the exemption with respect to each class of beneficiaries shall be apportioned between the beneficiaries in each class in proportion to the amount receivable by each beneficiary.

Class A provides that any devise, bequest, legacy, gift or beneficial interest to any property or income therefrom which shall pass to or for the use or benefit of any grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, husband, wife, child or stepchild, or any lineal descendent shall be denominated class A. In this class, there is exempt from the tax $10,000, and then as the sums advance, the rate goes up. The same is true of class B, except that there the exemptions are less and the rates are higher. When we reach class C, there are no exemptions, and the rate is further advanced. The petitioner, and the appellant in this case, falls under class C.

The contention appears to be that there is a discrimination because, if a father dies, leaving $10,000 and one son, there would be no tax, but, if another father dies, leaving an estate of $25,000 and three sons, each of whom get one-third' of the estate, in such a case there would be a tax levied upon the $5,000 portion which each son received, above the exemption.

Prior to the act of 1935, the inheritance taxes were payable on the right of the heir or legatee to re[515]*515eeive. That act, however, embodied, not only that feature, but a tax upon the estate. The tax upon the estate is based upon the legal power to transmit at death, and the inheritance tax is on the privilege of succession. In re Ferguson’s Estate, 113 Wash. 598, 194 Pac. 771, 13 A. L. R. 122; In re Fotheringham’s Estate, 183 Wash. 579, 49 P. (2d) 480. There is no constitutional objection to embodying in the same statute provisions with reference to any inheritance tax, and also an estate tax. State v. Eldodt, 33 N. M. 347, 267 Pac. 55; Stebbins v. Riley, 268 U. S. 137, 45 S. Ct. 424, 44 A. L. R. 1454.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
189 Wash. 510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/diocese-of-olympia-inc-v-pemberton-wash-1937.