207 Mass. 368 | Mass. | 1911
This is a bill in equity brought by the executor of a foreign will for instructions as to whether certain promissory notes secured by mortgages upon real estate in Massachusetts, and one note secured by an assignment of an interest in a real estate trust, all belonging to the testator at the time of his death, are subject to a succession tax under the laws of this Commonwealth. The notes were all in his possession at his domicil in New Hampshire.
The Ot. 1907, c. 563, § 1, as amended by St. 1909, c. 268, and by St. 1909, c. 527, § 1, under which the defendant claims the tax, includes “All property within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, corporeal or incorporeal, and any interest therein, whether belonging to inhabitants of the Commonwealth or not,” and makes it subject to a tax upon the succession, if it passes by will or the laws regulating intestate succession, with certain exceptions which we need not consider. This language indicates an intention on the part of the Legislature to tax all property that it has the power to tax. The statute is as broad as the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth. The question before us is whether these securities are property within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, in reference to taxation upon the succession.
Under the laws of Massachusetts a mortgagee takes not merely
The same doctrine has been held in States where the mortgagee has only a lien upon real estate. It is the law of the Supreme Court of the United States. Savings & Loan Society v. Multnomah County, 169 U. S. 421. Bristol v. Washington County, 177 U. S. 133. It is also established by well reasoned opinions of courts in several States. Allen v. National State Bank, 92 Md. 509. In re Merriam's estate, 147 Mich. 630. In re Rogers estate, 149 Mich. 305. Mumford v. Sewall, 11 Ore. 67. The fact that the laws of the State and the jurisdiction of its courts must be invoked for the preservation and enforcement of rights under the mortgage is an important consideration leading to this result. Upon the facts of this case,
The note secured by the conveyance of the deposit book in the Cambridge Real Estate Associates
There is strong ground for the defendant’s contention that, because the debts in all of these cases could only be enforced, in the ordinary way, against the debtor by the aid of our courts, we ought to hold that they are property within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, and subject to taxation under this statute.
jDecree of Probate Court reversed.
This was “a voluntary association of individuals for the purpose of investing, in real and personal estate, funds contributed by the said individuals,— the legal title to said funds and to the property in which the same may be invested being held by ” trustees. “ On July 14,1909, the Cambridge Real Estate Associates . . . was composed of citizens of Cambridge, Massachusetts, only, and the property of said associates was vested as to legal title in two citizens of said Cambridge, as trustees, and was invested principally in real estate situated in said Cambridge. The only investment other than in real estate in Cambridge was in two shares of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company stock.”