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In re Board of Home Missions

11 N.Y.S. 311 Court N.Y. Gen. Term Decision date 1890-10-24 English

Delivered by Daniels, J.

Contents

Majority

p. 311
In re Board of Home Missions. In re Lenox’s Estate.
(Supreme Court, General Term, First Department.
October 24, 1890.)

Headnote

Descent and Distribution—Taxation of Legacies.
Under the New York"statute taxing collateral inheritances, (Laws 1885, c. 483,) the Board of Home Missions of the United States Presbyterian Church is subject to taxation on a legacy, it not being exempted by provisions of its charter, or falling within any of the exemptions of the acti
Appeal from surrogate’s court, New York county.
This is an appeal by the people and the comptroller of the city and county of New York from an order directing the executors of Henrietta A. Lenox to pay $2,500 to the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church of the United States.
Argued before Van Brunt, P. J., and Brady and Daniels, JJ.
John R. Fellows, Dist. Atty., (Benj. F. Dos Passos, of counsel,) for appellant. Hamilton Odell, for respondents, executors. John E. Parsons, for respondent, Board of Home Missions.

The Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church of the United States was created a corporation by chapter 287, Laws 1872, but the act did not exempt it from liability to taxation under the general laws of the state. A legacy of $50,000 was given to this board by the will of the testatrix, Henrietta A. Lenox, and the executors paid the sum of $47,500 of the amount to the board, reserving the residue for the collateral inheritance tax. The board considered that to be unauthorized, and petitioned the surrogate for an order directing the payment to it of this reserved amount; and the surrogate made the order from which the appeal has been brought. This board has not been exempted from taxation by any law of the state. In that respect it stands precisely as the Board of Foreign Missions does, whose case has been already examined, (ante, 310,) and for the reasons then given, the order made on the application of this board should be reversed, with $10 costs, and the disbursements. All concur.