Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN
GROVk-R SELLERS
ATTORNEYGLNLIAL
Honorable Lee Curtia
County :.t torney
Dell county Belton, Texan
pear 31r: oplnlon NO. 0-6168
He: IO a in the ~111 Of Clmxle-QBryda, deceased, aubjsot to the OtabQ i!lQeritanoe \ tat?*-- L '.\ '-5 fro.3 this d8&3artlsbEt reado at+roUma: ‘\ *' a
"I would like to havi..yoW&i4ion with rrt- to aa lnhsrlmoe taqques)ion. The will 6r6no6 i!ekQyde.<“h bortltldg. oo or which is of Claude 9 the County hereto attuohed,'huQeeq court or Bellpouqty,~~xa+ ‘a,)
%30tloni.fIi.of thib.wiU provides as rol- lows : '3ut or biw IJUZON~ ?rom+jthe corpus or q estate,- e rlwi iharg60iigalnst same, I give and b/queath to my.go~&irl~~nd, Hrs. Ruby Harms - - ;'- -.* - Ahe sumor +35;00 per month, to bo pefi pat o.Z a+ lnoomnn the 1st day of eaoh nontK for an.$durinq her natural llre; the first days arter pSy3lbait to b&&e wlthln thlrty probate,fl thl8 #Ill*.
'%bOtk'ndr the Will reads 88 rOiiOWLb: “i 'devi& mi,..tkqueath all the rrst and maldue of ay esti?tW- - - -, after the payment of an4 payment items hereinabove subject set o:lt ln Faragraphs Xoe. I, II, and III here- or, to Xary 3ardln-Baylor College, a private oor- porttlon of 36lton, 3011 County, Texas, its S'JO- cesnors ~~1~1 aSSli;ns, 11~ f66 Slmpl6; 1~ trWt, ilses purposes ~213 upon th6
hOWbVGr, r3r tiis conJltlons tersinaftcr Stated.'
Zonornbli Lmm Curtlm, pau,m 2
"Umry !imrdln-Saylor Co11646 im an mduoatloaml . inmtlt.ttlon, ani 011 trust pur~omea arm ed-
uomtlons~, and thbrmlorm it 1s clear. I think, that the estate dsvi8md to the Coll6~m la exempt from the n-,atm inhmrltmnoe tax. *The problem OR which I aa asking your opinion
1s whethbr or not Ssotlon It1 or the .wlll coamtltutmr a taxable bequest to llre. 2uby Haram. Uary HarUin- Baylor Collmgm and L!rm, Aasna tmkm the position that no pert of the estate 1s held in trust for her, that she ;1oem not rmomlrm any pmounlmry legeoy, but on tha oontrary this meotlon or will constItutsm a elft of Inoome rron fUtUr6 rant8 and ~vmnumm whloh may be earn65 by the betats, and that therefore therm 18 no Inhmrltmnom tax properly ahargemble beoaumm of for Us. Harms. thle provlmlon in tho will to take the position
“1 mm Iaollned that the will Joe8 orsate fi lit0 amtatm in ravor ot Mm. Earns In all or such part or the entire pro ertImm am may be nsommsmry to produam an lnaonm of s 35.00 per Mre. Baram 18 taxable fiionth, and that the bmqueat under the Inheritance tax law that the amount ot the tax should be aoaputed by smtImimtlng the life ex- pectancy of L’xs. ,Yaram basm~ on mortality tables and then co,nputIng the value of the eetatm nmoommary to produoe mn inool~m or G35.00 per mouth during the perlod of suoh llis expeotanoy.
"Thlm qusstlon is now pending in the County Court hers at zjmlton, and I shall slnomrmly apprmmlatm your glvlng IZS your opinion on the matter at your marllmat o~nven16nom.R
;ievlmod 3tetUt68, prOYid6m:
Art.1016 7117, "Wl property rrlthln jurlsdlotlon oorporats or lnoorporatm, real 3r personal, State, awl crny interest thmrsin, . . . wnioh mhall pa88 ab- solutely in trust by -will or by the lawn oi or 3escsnt or listrlbutlon...shall. ,.bm subjoot to a tax. . .." 7123 provides:
,‘hdolb
822 HonoraBle i.00 Cut is, peg0 3
“Ii the property passlag aa aforesaid shall be divided into two or C~OIF estater, as an estate for pars or for life sni a remelnder, the tax shall be levied on eaoh estate or Interest separately, aooord- lng to the value of tha same at the death OS the de- oedent. The valae of eatates for yaar8, estates for llfe, remainders and annultier, shall be detsrralne;i by the ‘Aotuarles Comblnrd txperienoe Tables,’ at rour per oent oompound interest. *
The legeoy to Xra. ilarmr,, uhen examined in the light of the two statutes above mentioned, 18, in our opinion, olear- In property within the meaning l/ taxable. it is an “interest” of >‘.rtlcle 7117, aupra. Aaid interest in in the nature of an annalty. See D,ethea v. Sheppard, 143 3.w. (24) 997, error re- Pused, wherein life lnoomo bequests are referred to as “ennu- The fact that ,irtlole 7123 gives the method for OOEI- itlea”. putlng the value of “annuitie8” uhows a olear legleletlve in- tent that interests type in a ieoedentPs estate 8re eubjeot to the lnheritanoe tax. The authorltles generally are In aooord with our holdln wv Suooeaslon 0r cotton, 135 So. 368 (La.); !iowe v. Xowe, 1 N.3. 225 (Maas.); 61 C.J., 1675; 2’ ”
28 ;rmerloan Jurisprudence, 118; Roes on Inherltaaoe Taxation, p. 121 et seq.; 83 A.L.R. 939; 117 A.L.H. 121.
Tours very truly, ATTORNEY GE- OF TEXAS J. Arthur Seadlln :., -“. _^ . . . . .~ . . /, ,.. ,-2 s Assistant JIzs/JCP