Heller v. Department of Revenue

I am not in accord with Chief Justice North’s conclusion that Heller, a widower who has survived his former wife Hazel, a de*201ceased daughter of the testatrix, is entitled to the exemption and preferential rate allowed by our inheritance tax statute to the husband of a daughter of the testatrix.

The Chief Justice relies on decisions in New York, Illinois and New Jersey. It may be conceded that the surrogate’s court in New York,1 and the supreme courts of Illinois2 and New Jersey3 have held that “husband of a daughter” in their inheritance tax statutes also meant “widower” of a daughter. But it…