78 A.D. 301 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1903
By the will of the testatrix there was bequeathed to the “ Protestant Episcopal Church Missionary Society for Seamen in the City and Port of blew York” the sum of $1,000. The surrogate determined that this legacy was subject to a transfer tax, and from that determination this appeal is taken. The testatrix died on the 23d day of March, 1902. By chapter 458 of the Laws of 1901, section 221 of the Tax Law (Laws of 1896, chap. 908) was amended so as to provide: “ But any property heretofore or hereafter devised or bequeathed to any person who is a bishop, or to any religious corporation, including corporations organized exclusively for bible or tract purposes, shall be exempted from and not subject to the provisions of this act.”
The determination of this question must depend upon the character of the corporation which was intended to take this legacy. If this is a “religious corporation” the legacy is not taxable; and if
As a part of the general revision of the laws of this State, the Religious Corporations Law (Laws of 1895, chap. 723) was passed, and a religious corporation was there defined by section 2 as “A corporation created for religious purposes ; ” and in the same section an incorporated church is defined to be “ a religious corporation ■created to enable its members to meet for divine worship or other religious observances.” This act was in force at the time of the amendment of the Tax Law which exempts from taxation a transfer to a religious corporation, and the appellant was, I think, clearly within this definition of a religious corporation.
The amendment of the act for the incorporation of the appellant by chapter 68 of the Laws of 1854 did not change its character. By that amendment there was added a new section which provided that it should be lawful for the corporation to procure one or more houses and lots for the boarding, lodging and entertainment of seamen and boatmen in the city and port of New York. If the corporation had been organized under the General Religious Corporations
This conclusion is not at all in conflict with Matter of Watson (171 N. Y. 256). That case related to a bequest to the Young Men’s Christian Association of the city of Rome and to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and it was held that these two corporations were not, strictly speaking, religious corporations, but such corporations as were authorized by the Membership Corporations Law. The object of the Young Men’s Christian Association was stated to be “ the improvement of the spiritual, mental, social and physical condition of young men,” while those of the missionary society were declared to be “ Charitable and religious, designed to diffuse more generally the blessings of education and Christianity, and to promote and support missionary schools and
It follows that the order of the surrogate should be reversed and the proceeding dismissed, with costs.
Van Brunt, P. J., Patterson and Hatch, JJ., concurred; Laughlin, J., dissented.
Order reversed and proceeding dismissed, with costs.