In re Sautter's Estate
| Decision Date | 31 July 1942 |
| Docket Number | 31329. |
| Parties | In re SAUTTER'S ESTATE. KEITH COUNTY v. METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME. |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. "A formal, judicial stipulation by the parties as to facts, so long as it stands, is conclusive between them, and cannot be contradicted by evidence tending to show the facts otherwise." LeBarron v. City of Harvard 129 Neb. 460, 262 N.W. 26, 100 A.L.R. 767 .
2. In re Estate of Rudge, 114 Neb 335, 207 N.W. 520.
3. A foreign corporation which complies with section 24-222 Comp.St.1929, thereby becomes a body corporate of this state and, while such corporation may become a domestic corporation in many respects and treated as such for local purposes, in other respects it retains the character of a foreign corporation, and its status within the state is not equivalent to that which it would have had, were the same created a separate corporation therein.
4. The domestication of a foreign corporation is nothing more than extension to it of the privilege of license as a foreign corporation to do business in this state and its susceptibility to service to do business in this state, within the contemplation of sections 24-222 and 24-1201, Comp.St.1929.
5. A foreign corporation, organized exclusively for charitable purposes, which complies with section 24-222, Comp.St.1929, although becoming a body corporate in this state, is not exempt from payment of an inheritance tax, within the contemplation of section 77-2201, Comp.St.Supp.1941. By such domestication, it does not become a domestic corporation, with the same legal rights, powers and advantages in all respects as a domestic corporation.
6. Exemption from payment of inheritance tax applies only to domestic institutions, organized and operating as charitable institutions, and does not apply to unincorporated foreign associations, organized and operating for charitable purposes, within the contemplation of section 77-2201, Comp.St.Supp.1941.
7. Where foreign corporations, residuary devisees, and an unincorporated foreign association, a devisee and residuary devisee, take real estate under a will and enter into a contract with the heir at law to dismiss an action to construe the will, and agree thereunder to pay the heir the amount of $12,000, to be retained from the distributive share of such foreign corporations and unincorporated foreign association in the estate, and the heir agrees to claim only the bequest and devise given to him specifically under the will, and to quitclaim any interest he may have in the real estate of the deceased under other paragraphs of the will, the will having been admitted to probate and decree of distribution to be made in conformity with the will, Held, such circumstances vest sufficient title to the real estate in the foreign corporations and the unincorporated foreign association to enable them to convey a valid title of their respective interests in real estate therein to a bona fide purchaser, especially so where such foreign corporations and unincorporated foreign association, by contract with the heir at law, receive his interest and eliminate the possibility of escheat proceedings being instituted by the state, and such foreign corporations and unincorporated foreign association are not exempt from payment of inheritance tax, within the contemplation of section 77-2201, Comp.St.Supp.1941, nor prohibited by section 76-502, Comp.St.1929, from acquiring interest in real estate in such manner as appears in the instant case.
8. Where foreign charitable corporations, residuary legatees and devisees, and a foreign unincorporated charitable association, legatee and devisee and residuary legatee and devisee enter into a contract with the heir at law to pay him the sum of $12,000 to dismiss a suit brought to construe the will, such amount to be retained from a partial distribution of the assets of the estate going to such corporations and unincorporated association, the amount of $12,000 is not deductible in the computation of inheritance taxes from the interest of such corporations and unincorporated association, there being no stipulation for decree of distribution of the property other than in accordance with the terms of the will, the property passed under the will, and the compromise payment not being paid as the result of a will contest, the result was nothing more than a bequest to the residuary legatee and devisee, and the right of the heir at law to receive from the estate certain funds which became the property of the foreign corporations and the unincorporated association by virtue of the will; the suit to construe the will was an independent, separate proceeding, as distinguished from the proceedings of probate.
9. The county court has exclusive and original jurisdiction to fix, determine and assess inheritance taxes and to prorate the same proportionately to the taxable interests of the heirs at law, legatees, devisees or beneficiaries, as the case may be.
10. An appeal properly perfected, as provided in section 77-2211, Comp.St.1929, and in sections 30-1601 to and including 30-1610, Comp.St.1929, gives the district court jurisdiction of the subject-matter to fix, determine and assess an inheritance tax against the interests of all parties liable thereto, and to designate the pro rata payment thereof to the counties entitled to receive the same for the benefits for which the tax is created.
McConnell & Leaton and Conrad D. Philos, all of Chicago, Ill., and Beeler, Crosby & Baskins, of No. Platte, for appellants.
Zelma D. Derry, Co. Atty., of Ogallala, R. L. Smith, Co. Atty., of Chappell, and Beatty, Maupin, Murphy & Derry, of Ogallala, for appellee Keith County.
Beeler, Crosby and Baskins, of No. Platte, for appellees Henry Harm et al.
Heard before SIMMONS, C. J., and ROSE, EBERLY, PAINE, CARTER, MESSMORE, and YEAGER, JJ.
This is an appeal from a decree of the district court for Deuel county, entered May 23, 1941, reversing and modifying an assessment of inheritance taxes in the estate of Charles C. Sautter, deceased, entered by the county court of Deuel county against the legatees and devisees named in the will of the decedent. Charles C. Sauter died November 6, 1938, a resident of Deuel county, Nebraska, possessing real estate located in Keith county; also considerable personal estate whose situs was his residence and legal domicile. His last will and testament was admitted to probate in the county court of Deuel county January 6, 1939. The pertinent provisions of the will are clauses three and four:
"Third: In compliance with the terms and provisions of the last Will and Testament of George L. Sautter, deceased, wherein I was given a life estate in certain property, and required to select and designate during my lifetime certain charitable institutions to receive the same, I hereby give, bequeath and devise unto The World Service Agencies of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Chicago, Illinois, the sum of Four Thousand One Hundred Six Dollars and Eighty-three cents ($4,106.83) and real estate" described in the clause.
"Fourth: I give, bequeath and devise unto the German Methodist Orphan Home of Berea, Ohio, the Central Wesleyan Orphan Home of Warranton, Mo., the Nebraska Children's Home Society, of Omaha, Nebraska, the Child Savings Institute of either Omaha or Lincoln, Nebraska, The World Service Agencies of the Methodist Episcopal church, Chicago, Illinois, and the Women's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Topeka Branch, all the rest and residue of my estate, both real, personal or mixed, of whatever nature or wherever found, to be and become theirs absolutely, viz., to share and share alike, the real estate so devised to descend to them and their successors and assigns forever in fee simple."
The county court decreed that the Topeka Branch of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a corporation incorporated in Kansas (hereinafter referred to as the Topeka Branch), was not subject to the payment of such tax. On appeal by Keith county to the district court, that court held the Topeka Branch liable for payment of an inheritance tax. The appellants assign this holding of the district court as error, in that the Topeka Branch is a domesticated corporation and, therefore, exempt.
The record contains a stipulation that the Topeka Branch has complied with the provisions of section 24-222, Comp.St.1929, reading as follows: "Any corporation organized under the laws of any other state *** which has filed *** with the secretary of state of this state, a true copy of its charter or articles of association, shall, on filing with the secretary of state a certified copy of a resolution adopted by its board of directors, accepting the provisions of this article, be and become a body corporate of this state."
Relying on the stipulation, the Topeka Branch confined its proof to a certified copy of its charter, received in evidence to show that the society was a religious and charitable organization. The appellee is not in a position to question the stipulation.
"A formal, judicial stipulation by the parties as to facts, so long as it stands, is conclusive between them, and cannot be contradicted by evidence tending to show the facts otherwise." LeBarron v. City of Harvard, 129 Neb. 460, 262 N.W. 26, 27, 100 A.L.R. 767. See 5 Wigmore, Evidence, 2d Ed., 604, § 2588.
The district court held that, even though the Topeka Branch had been domesticated by complying with the provisions...
To continue reading
Request your trial