Susan S. Patterson, a resident of Westfield, N. Y., on May 22, 1903, executed an instrument in the nature of a deed of trust, by which she transferred to three trustees therein named all of her property except her real estate in the town of West-
The inducement clause of the trust deed is as follows: “Whereas the party of the first part.is possessed.of divers properties, which she desires to transfer, assign and convey to the Trustees for "the purpose of taking possession thereof and title thereto, collecting the income therefrom, and applying ■such income in part to the use and benefit of the party of the first part during her life, and any residue of the income to be distributed to certain beneficiaries, and upon the decease of party of the first- part the entire estate to be distributed to certain beneficiaries.” The transfer is then made in trust for the-uses thereinafter expressed, to wit: To take possession and collect the income thereof and apply the same by paying to the grantor from the net income, if sufficient for that purpose, $1,000 each month dirring her life, and any surplus net income to be divided annually amongst the beneficiaries thereafter in the deed named in the same proportion that the principal of such trust estate is directed to be apportioned and divided as thereinafter provided. The trustees are then required, in the event the income' in any year shall be insufficient to pay the monthly $1,000, to take and use part of the principal of the fund to make up the deficiency and pay .the same to her. The trustees are further directed to take and apply from the income, if sufficient for that purpose, and if not, then from the principal thereof,' sufficient to pay for a memorial receiving vault, and such additional sum as may be necessary .to lay out and embellish the grounds surrounding. Then follows a direction to the trustees upon the death of the grantor to convert all the assets of the trust estate into money, and out of the proceeds to pay one doEar to George Sutherland, “ and to divide the rest, residue and remainder thereof into eight hundred and eighty (880) equal' shares and distribute and pay over said shares to the following persons, to wit: ” Then fol
The surrogate has held that the transfer Of the corpus of this estate, passing by the trust deed, was taxable, because it was intended by its' terms to take effect in possession and enjoyment upon her death. Appellants assail the tax imposed and claim the .same to be unlawful upon two grounds: First. Because the statute under which the tax was imposed is unconstitutional and void. Second. That the possession, enjoyment and right to the trust fund in excess of such part thereof as was necessary to provide the monthly payment to the grantor passed to the beneficiaries designated in the deed upon the execution thereof, and, therefore, the transfer of that portion of the fund was not subject to tax.
That such a tax is not unconstitutional so far as the right and power of the State to fix some tax upon such transfers has been decided by the Court of Appeals in Matter of Keeney (194 N. Y. 284). It is true that the court did not then pass upon the effect of the statute in a case where the transfers to different individuals were under the law taxed at a higher rate than like transfers to others. But the court in its opinion seem to indicate that discrimination to that extent, if it be discrimination, would not invalidate the statute.
If the transfers of the corpus of the estate to the beneficiaries named in the trust deed were, as the statute expresses it, “intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after such death ” of the grantor, then they were liable to the tax imposed. (See Tax Law [Gen. Laws, chap. 24; Laws of 1896, chap. 908], § 220, as amd. See, also, Tax Law [Consol. Laws, chap. 60; Laws of 1909, chap. 62], § 220.) It is admitted by appellants that, if the statute is constitutional, so much of the corpus of the estate as was necessary to produce an income sufficient to make the monthly payments of $1,000 to the grantor is subject to tax. It seems to have been determined that a fund of $220,000 would have been sufficient for that purpose. The appraiser so finds as his report states. I have not discovered in the record any evidence, or" stipulation, upon which this finding is based. But the surro
Appellants rely largely upon two cases: Matter of Masury (28 App. Div. 580; affd., 159 N. Y. 532) and People v. Kelly (218
All concurred.
Orders affirmed, with costs.
