26 A.2d 308 | Pa. | 1942
This appeal is from a decree of the Orphans' Court of Delaware County setting aside the transfer inheritance tax assessed by the Commonwealth against the interest of a decedent in a joint bank account pursuant to the provisions of the Act of July 14, 1936, P. L. 44.
Margaret C. Nolan, the decedent, and Mary E. Nolan were single women and sisters residing together in the City of Chester, Delaware County. Mary E. Nolan opened a savings account in the Delaware County National Bank, at Chester, in her own name, on June 25, 1920, and the account so stood until October 29, 1937. On the latter date, the name of Margaret C. Nolan was added to the account, and at the same time a written agreement was signed by both of the sisters and lodged with the bank, as follows: "We agree and declare that all funds now, or hereafter deposited in this account are, and shall be, our joint property and owned by us as joint tenants with right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common; and upon the death of either of us any balance in said account shall become the absolute property of the survivor. The entire account or any part thereof may be withdrawn by or upon order of either of us or the survivor. It is especially agreed that withdrawals of funds by the survivor shall be binding upon us and upon our heirs, next of kin, legatees, assigns and personal representatives." Upon the death of Margaret C. Nolan, on November 1, 1939, a transfer inheritance tax appraisement was filed which included one-half of *100 the joint account. The balance on deposit in the account at that time was $9,639.51. On appeal to the orphans' court, taken by the administratrix c. t. a. of the estate of Margaret C. Nolan, the court set aside the assessment as to this item, on the ground that the agreement of October 29, 1937, was not executed with the intention of creating a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship, but for the purpose of enabling Margaret C. Nolan to draw checks on the account for and on behalf of the sister, Mary E. Nolan, who was a paralytic and had difficulty in writing her name. This appeal by the Commonwealth followed.
The Act of 1936, supra, reënacting and amending paragraph (e) of section 1 of the Transfer Inheritance Tax Act of June 20, 1919, P. L. 521, provides: "Whenever any property, real or personal, is held in the joint names of two or more persons, except as tenants by the entirety, or is deposited in banks or other institutions or depositories in the joint names of two or more persons, except as husband and wife, so that upon the death of one of them the survivor or survivors have a right to the immediate ownership or possession and enjoyment of the whole property, the accrual of such right by the death of one of them shall be deemed a transfer, taxable under the provisions of this act, of a fractional portion of such property, to be determined by dividing the value of the whole property by the number of joint tenants in existence immediately preceding the death of the deceased joint tenant." That the statute is constitutional and applies irrespective of the amounts contributed by the respective joint tenants is no longer open to question, in view of our recent decision inCochrane's Estate,
The evidence of "surrounding circumstances" relied upon by the court consisted of testimony given by one Mergy, assistant cashier of the Delaware County National Bank, and Jane Nolan Apeldorn, who is the personal representative of the estate of Mary E. Nolan as well as administratrix of the estate of Margaret C. Nolan, and a niece of both decedents, all of which evidence was introduced over the Commonwealth's objection. Mergy testified that some time prior to the execution of the written agreement of October 29, 1937, Margaret C. Nolan stated to him that Mary E. Nolan, because *102 of her physical condition, was desirous that the account be made available to checks signed by her, Margaret C. Nolan, and that he provided her with a new signature card, containing the written agreement, which was thereafter signed by both of the sisters and returned to the bank. He admitted on cross-examination, however, that Margaret C. Nolan read the agreement in his presence and that he "explained that the money would go to the survivor in case of one dying." The other witness, Mrs. Apeldorn, testified that Margaret C. Nolan "always thought she would die before Aunt Mary" and "never considered she had an interest in this account"; that "she never wanted to draw checks except for Aunt Mary"; and that withdrawals made by Margaret C. Nolan were used only "for Aunt Mary, nurses and doctors and medicine, and everything she needed." Assuming, for present purposes, that this evidence was properly admitted, we think it was clearly insufficient to defeat the Commonwealth's claim.
Whatever may have been the original intention of the parties, the fact remains that the joint tenancy agreement was fully explained to Margaret C. Nolan, at least, and that it was signed by both of the sisters, without any suggestion whatever of duress or fraud. And, while it may be that Margaret C. Nolan made no withdrawals from the account for her own purposes, that fact is not inconsistent with her status as a joint tenant under the terms of the written agreement. See Bostrom v. Nat.Bk. of McKeesport,
Decree reversed. Costs to be paid by appellee.