Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-16

Saiihoui. IHefe prODdDIy never lfeu
a man who some time in his life did
not spend at least a little while in
dreaming of the possibility of coming
INTO an estate. an Inheritance, or be-.
coming RICH overnight. The prospect,
however remote and intangible, of UNI
expectedly possessing funds not di-
rectly earned by the sweat of the
brow is one which irresistibly pro-
yokes contemplation.
mat is the reason why wills, miss
ing heirs, lost witnesses and inter-
mlnable lawsuits involving estates
have so prominent a place III the
stories of literature and the stage.
They are properties of the Goddess
fortune whom everyone seeks. For
this reason the cold statistics of the
internal revenue bureau, recording the
bare facts of the estates which are
transmitted in the United States. are
of absorbing interest. No personal
details are to be found because, under
the law no such facts may be divulged.
The statistics are made available to
the researcher only in general terms,
but even their austere columns har-
Dor an odor of the same romance
which made the case of Jarndyce YER
sus Jarndyce immortal, the same fac
c~ination which makes everybody read
a will case in the newspapers.
The figures do not reveal how the
fortunes were bequeathed. They tell
no. stories of newsboys who helped
old ladies across crowded streets and
later woke up millionaires because the
old ladies' on their death beds. remem-
bered the kind deeds. Nothing like
that. The reader must furnish all
such details. building up what stories
he likes on the hard basis of facts.
Billions Go to Heirs
What the figures do show is that
in the period from September 1916
to January 1922, the latest for which
statistics have been compiled. 1920
estates passed to fortunate heirs. The
total sum bequeathed staggers the
imagination. 1t amounted to $685.
Gal 1889. The average individual would
consider himself lucky if his morning
mail informed him that some old
%uncle's will had left him $1,000. But,
was inherited to make S,7S5 million
aires. The sum if averaged among
the recipients would give each a
fortune Of about 100000. which is
enough for a man to live upon all
his days. Forty-two thousand per
sons, enough to populate q good sized
city, all we're made rich through in
heritance in this brief period.
The beneficiary does not get the
whole amount of the bequest, for the
stern-visaged treasury ta~x-gatherer
steps in and takes Il share which, in
some cases, is as much as one-fifth.
The total tax paid on these requests
Of nearly $4,000, 900 900 was S351,-
1898. The smaller estates bring
the average down so that for the
whole bulk the rate was only 6.49 per
cent on an average, or an average tax
Of only S9.597.35 per estate. The big
estates are those which pay the
greatest taxes. For instance. the
average tax paid on the estates in the
group of S10,000,000 and over was
'over $4,000, 900.
1t is n curious fact that the benefit
Charles of wills greatly dislike to give
I'D to the tax collector any part of
the sum inherited, in spite of the fact
that it is practically a gift for which
no labor mas been performed. and
sometimes from a distant rela-
tive who was a stranger. This curl
ous Discrimination 10 part with any of
ones winnings from the Glance hand
Of fortune is illustrated b. the tale
of the woman who sued to break a
viii. She had been disinherited where
she expected a bequest and went to
court. E9It ltSl the tlSp anu VI
course, the sun she desired.
We'll" she said when the verdict
was rendered: "At least | won't have
to pay the inheritance tax. ! have
t saved that"
The inheritance tax is levied on bet
estates. that is, what remains after
| the various deductions permissible IN
der the tax are made. The estate list
ed in the period under review we're
brought down to a net figure of So
407 .6T3,531 and the tax levied upon
that sum.
Deductions are of various charac-
tiers. In the first place there is a
5 specific deduction of $4,000 for all cs-
=, tates and no one who leaves less than
that sum has his requests curtailed
BY the tax.
: For the period under review there
were 5,643 such estates having a
! gross value Of S437,471,2 800.
Many Deductions Allowed
t The statutory deductions include
: charitable, public and similar requests.
These took $264,491 ,6S7 from the tax
? able total during the 1916-1922 period.
. The law provides that property recent,
" inherited by the d~escendent and
which, therefore, has recently paid an
| Inheritance tax. may be exempted. The
amount coming within this category
was $67, $50. 902. That great sum had
: Nbeen inherited only recently and held
= n relatively brief while. Many stories
doubtless are behind that classification
: What use did the beneficiary make of
: his inherited wealth during his hriet
period of prosperity? Was the good
fortune too much for him and was il
I the cause Of his death? The reader
may exercise his imagination at will
the statistics reveal nothing.
: Funeral expenses, debt unpaid al
the time Of death. and the expenses oil
n the administration of estates may be
deducted from the net OF taxable es.
> tate. These deductions in this period
n reached a total of 81, ,40S.174. II
is presumed a large part of this billion
: was consumed by the classification
e administrative expenses" To revert
f to our parallel imaginative picture, thf