In re the Transfer Tax upon the Estate of Kirby

133 Misc. 152, 231 N.Y.S. 408, 1928 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1128
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedNovember 5, 1928
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 133 Misc. 152 (In re the Transfer Tax upon the Estate of Kirby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Surrogate's Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Transfer Tax upon the Estate of Kirby, 133 Misc. 152, 231 N.Y.S. 408, 1928 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1128 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1928).

Opinion

Slater, S.

On an appeal by executors from the pro forma taxing order this court on December 9, 1927, remitted the matter to the tax appraiser to conform to the court’s opinion with regard to taxing the principal of a fund held by trustees under a deed of trust dated August 1, 1914. The tax appraiser followed the direction of the court and from such new pro forma order, dated June 28, 1928, the State Tax Commission appeals, contending that the interest of Isabelle Craven Midgley under the deed of trust executed by the decedent was not properly valued and is erroneous. Consequently, the court will go into the matter de novo, because it is claimed that [153]*153the matter was not fully presented upon the prior hearing. In the first instance, the executor appealed to the surrogate on the grounds, among others, that the principal of a certain trust fund created by the decedent on August 1, 1914, amounting at the date of her death to the sum of $48,204.99, had been included as a transfer, subject to taxation. The life estate in said fund, valued at $38,622, had been taxed against said Isabelle Craven Midgley. The court held that the trust fund was not subject to transfer tax.

The decedent died September 22, 1926, and was survived by her granddaughter, Isabelle Craven Midgley. The deed of trust dated August 1, 1914, contained certain recitals, and transferred to trustees $2,500. The donor in 1914 was aged sixty-four years, and the grandchild was aged seven years. The habendum clause in the trust deed was in this form:

“ To Have and to Hold the same, together with any and all accretions or additions to the principal thereof, to them, the parties of the second part, their successor or successors, in Trust Nevertheless for the sole use, benefit and advantage of said Isabelle Craven Midgley, to manage and invest the same, either by depositing the said moneys with said Columbia Trust Company, or other Trust Company, Savings Bank, or otherwise invest the same in their discretion, and during the life time of the party of the first part, to accumulate the income thereof and add the same to the principal of said fund, and from and after the death of the party of the first part, to apply the same toward the support, maintenance and education of said Isabelle Craven Midgley, until she arrives at the age of twenty-one years, provided she shall live so long, and, after she shall have reached the age of twenty-on^ years, to pay the net income thereof directly to her during her life, and upon her death after the party of the first part or after she shall have reached the age of twenty-one years to pay the entire principal of said fund to whom the said Isabelle Craven Midgley may by her Last Will and Testament, or instrument in the nature thereof, appoint or direct, and in case she die intestate, then to her lawful heirs.

In the event, however, of the death of the said Isabelle Craven Midgley before the party of the first part, leaving no issue her surviving, then and in that event, the trust hereby created shall terminate and come to an end, and the whole of the principal of said fund hereby transferred, together with all accretions and additions thereto and all accumulations of income thereon, shall revert to, again become the property of, and be paid over to the party of the first part hereto, to be included in her estate and disposed of by her last will and testament. * * * ”

The question presented is this: Was the transfer under the trust [154]*154deed intended to take effect in possession, or enjoyment at or after the grantor’s death? The instant case is not one of those wherein the deed of trust reserves any right or power to the donor. .The State Tax Commission proceeds upon the theory that the possession or enjoyment does not take effect until the death of the donor. If this be true, then the contention of the State Tax Commission is correct.

It is still the court’s opinion that the State Tax Commission is proceeding upon an erroneous premise in stating that the possession or enjoyment of the property is postponed until the death of the donor. The intention of the donor must be found in the words creating the trust, and one of the tests applied to ascertain the donor’s intention is, who gets the possession or enjoyment of the funds? The legal effect of the terms of the trust must be held to be the donor’s intention.

The terms of the trust as written are in violation of section 16 of the Personal Property Law (as amd. by Laws of 1927, chaps. 384 and 681)

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re the Accounting of the State Bank of Albany
14 A.D.2d 175 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1961)
In re the Appraisal under the Estate Tax Law of the Estate of Pratt
262 A.D. 240 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1941)
In Re Lowengart's Estate
84 P.2d 105 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1938)
Morris v. Morris
5 N.E.2d 56 (New York Court of Appeals, 1936)
In re the Transfer Tax upon the Estate of Kirby
228 A.D. 171 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1930)
In re the Estate of Schweinert
133 Misc. 762 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1929)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
133 Misc. 152, 231 N.Y.S. 408, 1928 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-transfer-tax-upon-the-estate-of-kirby-nysurct-1928.