Kirkwood v. Bromley

The State Controller appeals from the order allowing an inheritance tax refund.

Decedent Edith E. Off bequeathed two-thirds of the residue of her estate to the Shriners Crippled Children’s Hospital, a charity exempt from taxation. The amount of the gift exceeded the maximum allowed by Probate Code, section 41, which provides, in general, that under certain circumstances a testator may not leave in excess of one-third of his estate to charity to the exclusion of specified lawful heirs. The taxing authorities levied the inheritance tax on the assumption that certain of the decedent’s heirs would…