Foley, S.
In this accounting proceeding objections have been filed by the State of Connecticut for the general purpose of compelling payment by the executor out of the assets of the estate of the transfer tax claimed to be due to that State. The question involved is whether the power of the surrogate over the executor shall be used to enforce the collection of a transfer tax by a foreign State.
Under prior decisions it has been held that the revenue laws of a foreign State have no force in the State of New York, and that our courts cannot be employed in aid of the collection of foreign taxes. Such, in effect, was the determination of the Court of Appeals in State of Colorado v. Harbeck (232 N. Y. 71). Similarly, in my decision in Matter of Bliss (121 Misc. 773), I refused to direct the transmission of assets of the estate of a resident of Vermont to that State for the levying of a transfer tax under its laws.
It is claimed that the circumstances in this estate are substantially different from those in the authorities just cited. ■ An analysis of the alleged reasons for differentiation leads to the conclusion that there is no difference in substance and that the objectant, the State of Connecticut, is not entitled to the relief sought. It is undisputed that the domicile of the testatrix was in the State of Connecticut. She died on October 3, 1928. She left tangible and intangible property in that State. She also left property in the State of New York. Her will was admitted in an original probate proceeding in the Surrogate’s Court of New York county. No original or ancillary probate proceedings were taken by the executor in Connecticut. Indeed, no such action was necessary because shortly after the death of the decedent the tangible property in Connecticut was removed from that State to the State of New York, [53]*53and the account in a savings bank there was likewise withdrawn and received by the executor. The latter has paid the transfer tax due New York.
No transfer tax proceeding was begun by the executor in the State of Connecticut. Under the law of that State the tax is made a hen upon the property. Its statutory procedure is somewhat different from our own. The personal representative of the estate is required to file an inventory of the property. The filing of the inventory seems to be a condition precedent to the assessment of the tax. In the course of time, in an attempt to meet the situation created by the refusal of the executor to act, there was appointed an administrator c. t. a. in the Court of Probate, Ridgefield, Conn. The person named was a nominee of the tax authorities of that State. It is conceded that no assets of the estate have come within his control. It should be noted also that all of the legatees of the estate are residents of this State and no demand is made in the proceeding before me by any person interested as beneficiary or creditor for the transmissal of the assets to Connecticut. Under these circumstances, if the demand of Connecticut was granted, the estate would be depleted, without advantage to the distributees, by the expense of the secondary administration in that State. Entirely aside from the basic element of public policy involved in this application, no reason exists, therefore, requiring the exercise of the discretion of the surrogate for the return of any of the property to the domiciliary State.
Connecticut claims, however, that the public policy of New York and the law of the Harbeck and Bliss cases have been fundamentally changed by the adoption of the reciprocity provision in our Tax Law (§ 248-p).
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Foley, S.
In this accounting proceeding objections have been filed by the State of Connecticut for the general purpose of compelling payment by the executor out of the assets of the estate of the transfer tax claimed to be due to that State. The question involved is whether the power of the surrogate over the executor shall be used to enforce the collection of a transfer tax by a foreign State.
Under prior decisions it has been held that the revenue laws of a foreign State have no force in the State of New York, and that our courts cannot be employed in aid of the collection of foreign taxes. Such, in effect, was the determination of the Court of Appeals in State of Colorado v. Harbeck (232 N. Y. 71). Similarly, in my decision in Matter of Bliss (121 Misc. 773), I refused to direct the transmission of assets of the estate of a resident of Vermont to that State for the levying of a transfer tax under its laws.
It is claimed that the circumstances in this estate are substantially different from those in the authorities just cited. ■ An analysis of the alleged reasons for differentiation leads to the conclusion that there is no difference in substance and that the objectant, the State of Connecticut, is not entitled to the relief sought. It is undisputed that the domicile of the testatrix was in the State of Connecticut. She died on October 3, 1928. She left tangible and intangible property in that State. She also left property in the State of New York. Her will was admitted in an original probate proceeding in the Surrogate’s Court of New York county. No original or ancillary probate proceedings were taken by the executor in Connecticut. Indeed, no such action was necessary because shortly after the death of the decedent the tangible property in Connecticut was removed from that State to the State of New York, [53]*53and the account in a savings bank there was likewise withdrawn and received by the executor. The latter has paid the transfer tax due New York.
No transfer tax proceeding was begun by the executor in the State of Connecticut. Under the law of that State the tax is made a hen upon the property. Its statutory procedure is somewhat different from our own. The personal representative of the estate is required to file an inventory of the property. The filing of the inventory seems to be a condition precedent to the assessment of the tax. In the course of time, in an attempt to meet the situation created by the refusal of the executor to act, there was appointed an administrator c. t. a. in the Court of Probate, Ridgefield, Conn. The person named was a nominee of the tax authorities of that State. It is conceded that no assets of the estate have come within his control. It should be noted also that all of the legatees of the estate are residents of this State and no demand is made in the proceeding before me by any person interested as beneficiary or creditor for the transmissal of the assets to Connecticut. Under these circumstances, if the demand of Connecticut was granted, the estate would be depleted, without advantage to the distributees, by the expense of the secondary administration in that State. Entirely aside from the basic element of public policy involved in this application, no reason exists, therefore, requiring the exercise of the discretion of the surrogate for the return of any of the property to the domiciliary State.
Connecticut claims, however, that the public policy of New York and the law of the Harbeck and Bliss cases have been fundamentally changed by the adoption of the reciprocity provision in our Tax Law (§ 248-p).
The contention of counsel that the form of the relief asked for here is not an attempt to enforce the revenue laws of Connecticut must be overruled. It is immaterial that the foreign State does not [55]*55ask for direct payment of its tax from the executor. The only purpose of this application is to compel the executor to begin transfer tax proceedings in Connecticut or to return the assets or proceeds of the assets to that State so that the tax may ultimately be collected. I pointed out in the Bliss case that what I was asked to do under the same circumstances was to quiet all question of the foreign State to levy a tax by giving it actual control of the property within its borders. It is immaterial also in this situation that the law of Connecticut declares the tax to be a hen upon the property. It may be such within that State, but its enforcibility ceases when the property crosses its border. The decision in Goodrich v. Rochester Trust & Safe Deposit Company (173 App. Div. 577) is not authority for the objectant’s contention. That case simply involved the right to reimbursement of an ancillary administrator in Michigan for payment of a tax assessed in that State out of the estate assets located here. The controversy was not between the foreign State and the executor or administrator. The tax had been duly levied in the foreign State and the Appellate Division held that the beneficiaries of the transfer of the property, rather than the administrator, should in justice bear the burden of the tax. The statement of the court, however, that the “ statute of Michigan could not operate beyond the borders of that State to fix a personal liability upon an executor in this State ” is pertinent to the conclusion reached by me. The objections of the State of Connecticut are dismissed' and its petition for permission to transmit the assets is denied. Submit decree on notice settling the account and directing distribution of the estate.
Added by Laws of 1925, chap. 143, as amd.