163 P. 902 | Cal. | 1917
In 1913 Emma Georgina Stewart, then wife, now widow, of James Stewart, deceased, declared a homestead upon community property. Upon his death title to the land impressed with this homestead vested absolutely in the widow. (Civ. Code, sec. 1265; Code Civ. Proc., sec. 1474.)
In the adjustment of the inheritance tax due to the state from the estate of James Stewart, deceased, the judge in probate relieved from liability for such inheritance tax the sum of five thousand dollars, as a homestead exemption. The question here presented is whether or not under the law an inheritance *548 tax is imposed upon the value of property, title to which is thus vested by virtue of the homestead laws.
The Inheritance Tax Act of 1913, in section 2, declares that "a tax shall be and is hereby imposed upon the transfer of any property . . . in the following cases: 1. When the transfer is by will or by the intestate or homestead laws of this state, from any person dying seised or possessed of the property while a resident of the state, or by any probate homestead set apart from said property." (Stats. 1913, c. 595, [p. 1067].) By the sections of the Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure above cited, title to the property impressed with the homestead vested in the widow upon the death of the husband. (Hart v. Taber,
Melvin, J., and Lorigan, J., concurred. *549