Stebbins and Hurley v. Riley, 268 U.S. 137 (1925)

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Stebbins and Hurley v. Riley

No. 227

Argued March 9, 1925
Decided April 13, 1925
268 U.S. 137

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Syllabus

1. The California Inheritance Tax Law of 1917, § 2, subdiv. 10, by providing that, in determining the market value of the property transferred for the purpose of fixing the amount of tax, no deduction should be made of the Federal Estate Tax (assessed upon the whole estate) resulted in a much larger proportionate tax on the succession to the residuum of an estate when the estate was large than when it was small, though the residuary bequest and the residuary estate were equal in each instance. Held consistent with the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 140.

2. There are too elements in the transfer of decedent’s estate, exercise of the legal power to transmit at death and privilege of succession, and both may be made the basis of classification in a single state taxing statute, so that the amount of tax which a legatee shall pay may be made to depend both on the total net amount of the decedent’s estate subject to the jurisdiction of the state and passing under its inheritance and testamentary laws and the amount of the legacy to which the legatee succeeds under those laws. P. 144.

191 Cal. 591 affirmed.

Error to a judgment of the Supreme Court of California sustaining, on review, a judgment of the Superior Court confirming an assessment of inheritance taxes.