In Re Carvill's Estate

The executor of the estate of Robert D. Carvill filed his petition representing to the court that the decedent had, within one year prior to his death, transferred, by way of gift, to each of four charitable institutions without the state of Washington, securities of the value of $5,000; the donees being: National Board of Young Women's Christian Association of the United States, New York; Tuskegee Normal & Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Ala.; Ministers' & Missionaries' Benefit Board of the Northern Baptist Convention, New York; and Northern California Baptist Convention, Los Angeles, Cal. That the transfer to each institution was evidenced by a contract in which the institution agreed to pay to the decedent an annuity of $450 during his lifetime; that the supervisor of the inheritance tax and escheat division of the state of Washington asserted the liability of the estate to pay the statutory inheritance tax of 10 per cent. upon these transfers, and prayed for a determination by the court of the liability of the estate for inheritance taxes upon the transfers. Upon the hearing, the court found that the transfers were not made in contemplation of death as defined by the statute, were not intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment after the death of decedent, and were, therefore, not taxable. From the resulting judgment, this appeal is taken.