Ross Estate

42 Pa. D. & C.2d 198, 1967 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Delaware County
DecidedMarch 8, 1967
Docketno. 767 of 1966
StatusPublished

This text of 42 Pa. D. & C.2d 198 (Ross Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Delaware County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ross Estate, 42 Pa. D. & C.2d 198, 1967 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1967).

Opinion

van Roden, P. J.,

Decedent died November 3, 1965, survived by no spouse, issue, or adopted children....

The court has been presented with three problems of interpretation with respect to decedent’s will.

I. Is the devise of real estate free and clear of Pennsylvania transfer inheritance tax?

[199]*199Articles Second and Third of decedent’s will are relevant to the first problem of interpretation. They read as follows:

“SECOND: I give and bequeath the following legacieSito the following named persons, free and clear of all State and Federal Death taxes:
“ (a) To my sister, LAURA WILLIAMS, the sum of Five thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
“ (b) To my sister, RUBY JOHNSTON, the sum of One thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
“(c) To my nephew, HOWARD JOHNSTON, the sum of Ten thousand Dollars ($10,000.00).
“(d) To my maid, EDNA DAWSON, the sum of One thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
“THIRD: I give and devise premises 887 Main Street, Darby, Pennsylvania, equally to and between my nephew, HOWARD JOHNSTON, and my friend, DR. BENJAMIN HENRY STEWART, share and share alike, they to hold the same absolutely and in fee as tenants in common”.

Decedent’s will does not contain a general tax clause. In fact, the only specific reference made to State and Federal death taxes is contained in article Second of the will.

All parties in interest concede that the source of payment of Pennsylvania transfer inheritance tax is controlled by section 718 of the Inheritance and Estate Tax Act of June 15, 1961, P. L. 373, as amended July 26,1963, P. L. 325, sec. 2, 72 PS §2485-718, which reads as follows:

“ (a) Outright Devises and Bequests. In the absence of a contrary intent appearing in the will, the inheritance tax imposed by this act on the transfer of property which passes by will absolutely and in fee, and which is not part of the residuary estate, shall be paid out of the residuary estate and charged in the same manner as a general administration expense. Such pay[200]*200ment shall be made by the personal representative and, if not so paid, shall be made by the transferee of the residuary estate”.

It is the contention of accountants that the presence of the specific exemption from State inheritance taxes with respect to the pecuniary legacies provided for in article Second of decedent’s will and the absence of a similar exemption with respect to the devise of real estate gives rise to the implication that decedent did not intend to free the devisees of the real estate from the responsibility of paying Pennsylvania transfer inheritance tax. The Latin maxim “Includio unius ex-cludio alterius” and three cases in the Orphans’ Court of Philadelphia, namely, Speitel Estate, 30 D. & C. 2d 338, 13 Fiduc. Rep. 426 (1964); O’Neill Estate, 34 D. & C. 2d 63, 15 Fiduc. Rep. 21 (1964), and Schlepfer Estate, 37 D. & C. 2d 583 (1965), were relied upon by accountants in support of their contention.

Dr. Benjamin Henry Stewart, one of the devisees, objected to the position of accountants. The doctor, by his counsel, contends that the Pennsylvania transfer inheritance tax with respect to the devise of real estate should be paid from decedent’s residuary estate. In support of this position, such counsel argues that the specific exemption from payment of inheritance tax contained in article Second with respect to the pecuniary legacies was intended by decedent to carry over and apply to all devises and bequests, except the residuary legacies.

After a careful review of the oral arguments presented by the parties in interest, the memorandum and brief submitted by the accountants and the authorities to which the attention of this court has been called, the court adopts the conclusion advocated by the objector and devisee, Dr. Benjamin Henry Stewart, with respect to the first problem of interpretation for the reasons which are hereinafter set forth.

[201]*201The basic question for decision is whether, under the facts presented in the instant case, the court will imply an obligation to pay Pennsylvania transfer inheritance taxes in connection with a devise of real estate where no such obligation is explicitly stated.

The hereinbefore cited cases decided in the Orphans’ Court of Philadelphia County are distinguishable from the situation presented by decendent’s will. In Speitel Estate, supra, certain pecuniary legacies were exempted from tax and others were not. Speaking for the court in the Speitel case, Judge Shoyer wrote:

. “Had she intended to exonerate from those taxes any or all of the 11 other outright bequests, she would have so provided. Her failure so to do, since she knew how, can only be because she intended those legacies not to be relieved of the tax burden”.

In O’Neill Estate, supra, testator left numerous pecuniary legacies and, in a subsequent paragraph of the will, exonerated two designated legacies from tax. The court held that by exonerating two, testator showed an intent to make the others bear their share of taxes. However, it should be noted that both of the aforesaid cases involved only pecuniary legacies. Since the legacies exonerated from tax were the same type as the other legacies in question, application of the concept of “Includio unius exeludo alterius” was a reasonable method of solving the problem with which the court was presented.

In Schlepfer Estate, supra, testatrix made a specific bequest of personal property free of tax and provided for pecuniary legacies without mention of taxes. Judge Lefever, in his opinion in that case, stated that by exempting the one bequest, testatrix expressed her intent by implication not to exonerate the others. In Schlepfer Estate, it should be noted that the legacy which was exonerated from tax (being referred to by the court as a specific legacy) would, in the event of a problem of [202]*202abatement, have occupied a higher priority of distribution than the general pecuniary legacies. See Fiduciaries Act of April 18, 1949, P. L. 512, sec. 751, 20 PS §320.751.

The present case differs from the Philadelphia County cases in that in the latter cases, the legacies which were specifically exonerated from payment of taxes had the same or a higher priority of distribution than the legacies which, by implication, were subjected to payment of inheritance tax; whereas, in the present case, the legacies specifically exonerated from payment of taxes occupy a lower priority of distribution than the devise which is not specifically exempted from such payment. See section 751 of the Fiduciaries Act of 1949, supra.

Since interpretation of a will by implication is, in a sense, interpretation of what a testatrix did not say, this court is of the opinion that implications should not be used to resolve problems of interpretation until the expressed intent of testatrix has been fully analyzed. This is particularly so in light of the fact that there is no precise limit to the extent and scope of interpretation by implication.

In effect, a requirement that a legatee must pay his share of death taxes applicable to a legacy is equivalent to a partial abatement of the same.

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42 Pa. D. & C.2d 198, 1967 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ross-estate-paorphctdelawa-1967.