191 A. 39 | Pa. | 1937
Argued January 4, 1937.
This is an appeal from the decree of the orphans' court sustaining an assessment by the register of wills of a transfer inheritance tax, under the Act of June 20, 1919, P. L. 521,
Eleanor H. Denniston, on May 10, 1915, executed a deed of trust, by which she conveyed certain property to a trust company and an individual in trust, to pay the net income to her for life, and after her death to hold it in trust for such persons, and for such purposes, as she might designate in her will. It was provided that, in default of such appointment, the corpus shall pass to her children and their issue. On May 16, 1932, the settlor relinquished by deed her power of appointment of the corpus. She died on March 13, 1934.
In 1915 when the deed of trust was executed, there was no inheritance tax on gifts to direct descendants. The Act of 1919 was the first to impose such a tax. *455
The orphans' court held that the tax was properly assessed on the decedent's net estate, as the transfer to her children did not take place until 1932, when she relinquished all control over the trust property.
The Act of 1919 imposes a tax upon "the right of succession or the privilege of receiving at death the property possessed by a decedent": Dolan's Est.,
Unquestionably if the settlor had not retained the power of appointment, the corpus would not be taxable as the transfer would have been complete at the date of the deed: Houston'sEst., supra.
The situation is similar to that in Leffmann's Est.,
The point in controversy was properly decided by the court below.
Decree affirmed at appellant's cost.