In re Weld's Estate

• Decision Date: 22 April 1942
• Citation: 50 N.E.2d 275,71 Ohio App. 497
• Parties: In re WELD'S ESTATE. SALVATION ARMY v. EVATT, Tax Com'r.
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

50 N.E.2d 275

71 Ohio App. 497

In re WELD'S ESTATE.

SALVATION ARMY v. EVATT, Tax Com'r.

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Ninth District, Summit.

April 22, 1942

Syllabus by the Court.

The succession under a bequest to a corporation organized for the carrying out of religious and charitable purposes is not exempt from the payment of inheritance tax by virtue of the provisions of Section 5334, General Code.

Griswold Leeper, Miller & Corry, of Cleveland, for appellant.

Thomas J. Herbert, Atty. Gen., and Aubrey A. Wendt and David K Larrimer, both of Columbus, for appellee.

STEVENS Judge.

The will of William N. Weld, formerly a resident of Richfield Summit county, Ohio, contained the following provision: 'Item IX--All the rest and residue of my estate of every kind and description and wheresoever situate, of which I die seized or entitled, or over which I have the right of testamentary disposition, I give, devise, and bequeath in equal shares to the Young Women's Christian Association, of Cleveland, Ohio, the Young Women's Christian Association, of Toledo, Ohio, the Salvation Army of Cleveland, Ohio, and the American Red Cross.'

Said will was duly admitted to probate by the Probate Court of Summit county, Ohio.

Upon application to determine inheritance tax, the court determined that the succession of the Salvation Army was subject to the payment of inheritance tax. Exceptions to that ruling were taken, and upon hearing upon the exceptions the Probate Court adhered to its former ruling.

Appeal on questions of law ensued.

It is conceded that the bequest to the exceptor is a general bequest, not limited solely to charitable uses, and that a substantial part of the activities of the Salvation Army is carried on within this state.

The record of the proceedings contains the purpose clause of the articles of incorporation of the Salvation Army, as well as the statement made for the purpose of acquiring a license certificate to operate in Ohio.

Both of those instruments show that the general intent of the corporation is to carry out religious and charitable purposes.

The evidence further shows that the corporation as originally conceived was to operate along religious lines alone, but that circumstances required a modification and broadening of that aim so as to include charitable endeavors.

Section 5334, General Code, provides: 'The succession to any property passing * * * to or for the use of an institution for purposes only of public charity, carried on in whole or in substantial part within this state, shall not be subject to the provisions of the preceding sections of this subdivision of this chapter. * * *'

It is contended by the appellant that the provisions of the above section of the statute, wherein institutions 'for purposes only of public charity' are exempted from the payment of succession tax, are sufficiently broad to contemplate the religious...