2 P.2d 753 | Cal. | 1931
THE COURT.
A petition for hearing in this case after decision by the District Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division One, was granted by this court. After further consideration we are satisfied with the opinion of the District Court of Appeal and hereby adopt the same as and for the opinion of this court, as follows:
"This is an appeal by the State Controller from an order entered in the above matter determining that no inheritance tax was due the state of California, and directing a refund of the inheritance tax previously paid.
"David Bloom died testate in the city and county of San Francisco on September 16, 1925. On September 25, 1925, Jonas Bloom, the executor and respondent herein, filed his petition for an order admitting the will to probate, and on October 8, 1925, the same was duly admitted to probate. The petition alleged and the court found that the decedent at the time of his death was a resident of said city and county. In due course of administration of the estate the inheritance tax appraiser appointed by the court filed his report fixing $64,268.81 as the amount of the tax, of which $57,145.24 was charged against the distributive share of respondent, and finding that the decedent died a resident of the city and county of San Francisco. On September 7, 1927, the State Controller filed objections to the report, alleging that certain corporate stock owned by decedent had been undervalued by the appraiser and that a copartnership interest of decedent had not been included in the report. On December 13, 1928, objections to the report were filed by respondent, following which amended and supplementary objections thereto were filed on his behalf individually and as executor. These objections alleged that the report was incorrect in finding that the decedent died a resident of the above city and county and that he was a resident of San Salvador at the time of his death; that consequently the stocks and bonds foreign to the state of California and which were owned by decedent were not subject to an inheritance tax in this state. The parties stipulated as to the value of the property in question and also that the decedent had an interest in certain partnership accounts which were not mentioned in the report. After a hearing the court found upon the evidence that decedent died a *578 resident of San Salvador and the order appealed from was entered accordingly. The evidence sufficiently supports the finding that decedent was a resident of San Salvador, but as stated the order admitting the will to probate contained a finding that the decedent died a resident of the city and county of San Francisco, and the Controller contends that respondent is conclusively bound thereby. The parties also stipulated that the only matter to be determined on appeal is the legal effect of the order in the above respect, but appellant makes the further contention that respondent by reason of his testimony in support of the petition for the probate of the will is also estopped to assert that decedent was not a resident of the said city and county.
[1] "A proceeding for the probate of a will is one instituted for the purpose of establishing the status of a written instrument (State of California v. McGlynn,
"Appellant, in support of his contention, has cited certain California cases. In Estate of Dole,
"The above cases make it plain that judgments in rem are binding upon persons who are not parties to or participants in the proceeding only so far as the status, title or other res
constituting the subject matter is adjudicated (Estate ofBlake,
[6] "While the state may be concluded by a judgment in rem
as to the res with respect to which the judgment was rendered, as, for example, the validity of the organization of irrigation districts (People v. Linda Vista Irr. Dist.,
[7] "We find no merit in appellant's further contention that as between the state and the executor the latter is estopped by his testimony at the hearing of the petition for the probate of the will. The estoppel of a judgment is operative only when it is mutual (34 Cor. Jur., Judgments, sec. 1407, p. 988], which was not the case as to the state. Moreover, it is an essential element of an estoppel by conduct that the party asserting it was injured or misled by the conduct of his opponent (10 Cal. Jur., Estoppel, sec. 20, p. 636), which is not contended to be the fact here.
"The conclusions of the trial court are supported both by the facts and the law, and its order should therefore be affirmed."
The order is affirmed. *582