194 Pa. 524 | Pa. | 1900
Opinion by
M. Carey Lea of Philadelphia, died March 15,1897; he was possessed of a very considerable estate, which he disposed of by will. Among many legacies and devises occurs this one:
“ I give and devise to Alice V. A. Lea, wife of my son, George H. Lea, for her life, and thereafter to the children of my said son, their heirs and assigns, share and share alike, the following properties, namely:
“ The house, stable and land at Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and the Oxford Market at the corner of Oxford and Twentieth streets in the same city, provided that she and they shall pay out of the rents and profits thereof the sum of two thousand (2,000) dollars a year unto my stepdaughter, Anna L. Bake-well, for the term of her life, in four equal quarterly payments, the first payment to be made three months after my decease.”
Then, further on, comes this direction: “ All the bequests of money in this will made, are to be paid without deductions for state tax.”
To his wife, Eva, this appellant, he gives his residuary estate, and appoints her executrix. Three questions were raised in the court below for adjudication: 1. Was the annual sum payable to Anna L. Bakewell subject to the collateral inheritance tax ? 2. Was the bequest to her one of “ money,” which, within the meaning of the will, was to be paid without deduction for state or collateral inheritance tax ? 3. If payable without deduction, then who shall pay the tax, the devisee of the land which is the source of the rents and profits out of which the $2,000 is payable, or the executrix and residuary devisee ?
Is the gift to Anna L. Bakewell subject to the tax ? She was a collateral, the stepdaughter of testator; the land out of which issued the rents to pay the legacy was devised to Mrs. Lea, the wife of testator’s son, and the devise to her was, by the express terms of the act, exempt from the tax; but, the bequest to Anna L. Bakewell lessened the value of the devise
The judgment is affirmed.