In Re the Estate of Rendsland

This is an appeal from a final decree of distribution of an estate pursuant in part to the terms of a settlement agreement, where the decree placed liability for the payment of substantial state inheritance taxes on appellants.

Central to the determination of the case is the 1973 ruling of this court that where a will contest results in a settlement agreement providing for distribution of an estate in a manner differing from the provisions of the will, the state inheritance tax must nonetheless be computed on the property as it passes under the will itself. In re Estate of Granger, 83 Wn.2d…