Planned Parenthood Ass'n v. Tax Commissioner, 39476

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Ohio
• Citation: 34 O.O.2d 251,5 Ohio St.2d 117,214 N.E.2d 222
• Docket Number: No. 39476,39476
• Parties: , 34 O.O.2d 251 The PLANNED PARENTHOOD ASSN. of Columbus, Ohio, Inc., et al., Appellants, v. TAX COMMISSIONER of Ohio, Appellee. In re ESTATE of WEILER.
• Decision Date: 16 February 1966

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5 Ohio St.2d 117 214 N.E.2d 222, 34 O.O.2d 251 The PLANNED PARENTHOOD ASSN. of Columbus, Ohio, Inc., et al., Appellants,
v.
TAX COMMISSIONER of Ohio, Appellee.
In re ESTATE of WEILER. No. 39476. Supreme Court of Ohio. Feb. 16, 1966.

[214 N.E.2d 223] Syllabus by the Court

1. In the absence of a legislative definition, 'charity,' in the legal sense, is the attempt in good faith, spiritually, physically, intellectually, socially and economically to advance and benefit mankind in general, or those in need of advancement and benefit in particular, without regard to their ability to supply that need from other sources, and without hope or expectation, if not with positive abnegation, of gain or profit by the donor or by the instrumentality of the charity.

2. The approval or disapproval of the activities of a charitable institution, so long as those activities offend neither the public peace nor a specific policy which the legislative or judicial branches are constitutionally empowered to announce, is irrelevant in an inquiry to determine whether the requisites of a statute granting tax exemption to a gift to that institution have been satisfied.

3. That one or more persons receiving the benefits of a charitable institution have the means, in whole or in part, to purchase those benefits in the market place or that some consideration is exacted from them on receipt of the benefits does not detract from the charitable character of the institution.

4. A nonprofit corporation organized and operating wholly within this state for the primary purpose of providing any married or about-to-be married woman, regardless of her ability to pay, with medical information and knowledge concerning the physiology of conception and the means of

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contraception, and with the necessary medical assistance, within the physician-patient relationship, to enable her to utilize the information imparted, if desired, is 'an institution for purposes only of public charity' within the purview of Section 5731.09, Revised Code, and, by virtue thereof, successions to such institution are not taxable under Section 5731.01 et seq., Revised Code.

The purpose clause of the articles of incorporation of The Planned Parenthood Association of Columbus reads as follows:

'The purpose of this association shall be to aid and support physicians in medical service and advice to married women, for the protection of the health and strength of such women and their children, and in the giving of such legal [sic] advice and instructions as such physicians may deem wise or necessary for the preservation of the mental or physical health or strength of such women, especially to the end that children shall be begotten only under conditions which make possible a heritage of mental and physicial health, and only when the health and strength of the mother will not be endangered thereby. The purpose of the association shall include the provision of offices, the employment of trained nurses to assist physicians, and the compensation of physicians for these medical services to persons unable to pay therefor.'

Under his will and by nonprobate transfers, Charles F. Weiler, who died testate on November 1, 1959, made gifts totalling $4,607.94 to Parenthood. The Probate Court of Franklin County disallowed Parenthood's claim of exemption as an 'institution for purposes only of public charity' or as a 'public institution of learning,' or both, and assessed succession taxes on those gifts under Section 5731.01 et seq., Revised Code. On appeal, the Court of Appeals for Franklin County affirmed the assessment. We granted appellants' motion [214 N.E.2d 224] to certify the record to this court for review.

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Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, James P. Kennedy and John A. Weedon, Columbus, for appellants.

William B. Saxbe, Atty. Gen., and Jon Ziegler, Columus, for appellee.

SCHNEIDER, Judge.

The sole question which concerns us in this appeal is whether The Planned Parenthood Association of Columbus was, on November 1, 1959, an institution for purposes only of public charity within the purview of Section 5731.09, Revised Code. ¹

The Tax Commissioner contends that, by the adoption of a code of regulations and by common practice, the purposes of Parenthood have been altered, enlarged and even disregarded in that its primary activity now consists of, as...