Gould v. Morrow (In re Culver's Estate)

• Decision Date: 13 December 1911
• Citation: 153 Iowa 461,133 N.W. 722
• Parties: IN RE CULVER'S ESTATE. GOULD v. MORROW, STATE TREASURER.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

153 Iowa 461

133 N.W. 722

IN RE CULVER'S ESTATE.GOULD

v.MORROW, STATE TREASURER.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Dec. 13, 1911.

Appeal from District Court, Pottawattamie County; O. D. Wheeler, Judge.

This is an appeal from an order in probate, directing the administratrix to pay to the State Treasurer, as a collateral inheritance tax, the sum of $614.47. Affirmed.

See, also, 123 N. W. 743, 25 L. R. A. (N. S.) 384.W. S. Baird, for appellant.

George Cosson, Atty. Gen., and N. J. Lee, Sp. Counsel, for appellee.

DEEMER, J.

In December of the year 1907, Melissa Gould was appointed administratrix with will annexed of the estate of Almiron Culver, deceased. The will was probated as a foreign will, and administration here was ancillary. Among other things, the administratrix inventoried “cash on deposit in the State Savings Bank of Council Bluffs, $10,640.48.” Shortly after the probate of the will, the State Treasurer filed a claim for an inheritance tax, due the state of Iowa upon the estate, which he valued at the sum of $15,640.48, making the total tax due $780.02. The administratrix filed answer to the claim, denying that the claimant was entitled to any tax, and especially asserting that no tax should be assessed upon 25 shares of stock in the State Savings Bank of Council Bluffs, valued at $150 per share. She averred that testator, at the time of his death, was a citizen and resident of the state of Kansas; that principal administration was being had in that state; that the shares of stock referred to were in his possession in the state of Kansas at the time of his death and have since been in the possession of his administratrix in that state; and that the said shares of stock have never been in this state, and are not a part of the estate in this state.

Upon these issues the case was tried to the court upon an agreed statement of facts, from which we extract the following:

“Almiron Culver departed this life at Wichita, in the county of Sedgwick, state of Kansas, August 23, 1908, leaving a will disposing of all his property; that at the time of his death Almiron Culver was a resident of Wichita, Kan., and had been such resident for many years prior thereto; that his will was probated in the county of Sedgwick, Kan., and Melissa Gould duly appointed administratrix therein, and is now acting as such; that later said will was duly probated in the district court of Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and Melissa Gould appointed as administratrix, and is now acting as such; that among other property left by the said Almiron Culver at the time of his decease was the sum of $10,800.08 in cash, deposited in the State Savings Bank of Council Bluffs, Iowa, where it now remains, and 25 shares of stock in such State Savings Bank of Council Bluffs, Iowa, represented by two certificates, one for 24 shares and one for 1 share, which certificates were, at the time of the death of said Almiron Culver, in his possession at Wichita, Kan., and had been in such possession for many years, and said shares of stock have not, since the decease of said Almiron Culver, been within the jurisdiction of the state of Iowa, and are now in the possession and control of the administratrix in Sedgwick county, Kan. That the State Savings Bank of Council Bluffs, Iowa, is an Iowa corporation, with its place of business in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and that the par value of such shares of stock is $100 each; that the fair market value of said stock is and was $200 each share, making a total of $5,000 for said 25 shares of stock.”

Upon this record, the trial court found that the $10,000 on deposit in the State Savings Bank was subject to the collateral inheritance tax, but that the bank stock was not subject to said tax. Accordingly judgment was rendered for the amount of the tax on the deposit in the bank, to wit $532.02. Both parties excepted. This ruling was had on August 26, 1908. The State Treasurer alone appealed to this court, and upon the appeal here it was found that the bank stock was subject to the inheritance tax. The administratrix did not appeal, and the time for her appeal expired on February 26, 1909. The case was heard in this court on the State Treasurer's appeal, and an opinion filed on December 15, 1909, reported in 123 N. W. 743, 25 L. R. A. (N. S.) 384.

On August 11, 1909, and after the time for appeal had passed, the parties filed a stipulation in the district court, from which we extract the following: “Comes now W. W. Morrow, State Treasurer, by H. W. Byers, Attorney General of the state of Iowa, and Melissa Gould, administratrix of the estate of Almiron Culver, deceased, by M. A. Hall her attorney, and stipulates and agrees that the judgment heretofore rendered in this matter by the court, allowing an inheritance tax upon the money on deposit in the Council Bluffs Bank in the sum of $532.02, may be vacated and set aside, so far only as that or any other specific sum is concerned; and that the adjudication by the court of the amount of such tax shall be made after and when the Supreme Court of the state of Iowa shall have passed upon the question involved in the appeal by the plaintiff herein named from that part of the judgment disallowing a tax upon certain bank stock; this stipulation, and the entry vacating and setting aside the judgment, to be without prejudice in all respects to the rights of the parties thereto in and on account of such appeal now pending in the Supreme Court of the state of Iowa.”

Pursuant to said stipulation, an order was entered in the trial court, reading in this wise: “The court does order that that part of the judgment rendered on August 26, 1908, by this court, allowing an inheritance tax upon the money on deposit in the Council Bluffs Bank in the sum of $532.02, be and the same is hereby vacated and set aside, and that the matter of such tax and the amount thereof shall remain in abeyance, to be determined by the court when and after the Supreme Court of the state of Iowa shall have passed upon the question involved in the appeal by W. W. Morrow, State Treasurer, from that part of the judgment disallowing an inheritance tax upon certain bank stock; this order to be without prejudice in all respects to the rights of the parties hereto in and on account of such appeal now pending in the Supreme Court of the state of Iowa by the court.”

After the reversal here, and on the 8th day of May, 1910, the State Treasurer, through his attorney, made a motion for judgment in the district court in conformity with the opinion here, and the record shows the following proceedings with reference thereto: “Mr. Hess for the plaintiff, W. W. Morrow, State Treasurer, offered and read in evidence all the files in the matter of the estate of Almiron Culver, deceased, including the filings made herein and noted on the appearance and fee docket, also the claim filed by him for collateral inheritance tax, in support of the motion, and at this time the State Treasurer, Morrow, objects to the introduction of any testimony on the part of the defendant going to the merits of said claim, for the reason that as to the money in the bank there was a complete adjudication in the order of the court, made herein, August 28, 1908. As to the bank stock on which the claim was based, the right to a tax thereon was fully determined by the Supreme Court, in a decision handed down by them on the _____ day of ______, 19--. The State Treasurer, Morrow, therefore demands and asks the court to make an order on the said administratrix to pay to the state of Iowa, or to W. W. Morrow, State Treasurer, the following sums: $782 tax, and interest thereon in the amount of $99.05, being a total of $881.05, and asks the court to make an order, requiring the said administratrix to pay said sum forthwith. The administratrix, being represented by W. S. Baird, offered the following: In resistance to the said motion of the State Treasurer for an order to be made on the administratrix to pay forthwith the sum of $881.05, the administratrix at this time offers all the files in the estate of Almiron Culver, deceased, both in the case of Morrow, State Treasurer, and in probate. The administratrix also offered and read in evidence Exhibit 2, which is the order vacating a portion of the judgment, and which is above set out.”

Thereafter the court below entered an order,...