Case Name: Estate of Benjamin A. Kavanagh
Court: New York Surrogate's Court
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1889-06-01
Citations: 24 N.Y. St. Rep. 404
Docket Number: 
Parties: Estate of Benjamin A. Kavanagh.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York State Reporter
Volume: 24
Pages: 404–405

Head Matter:
Estate of Benjamin A. Kavanagh.
(Surrogate’s Court, New York County,
Filed June 1, 1889.)
^Collateral híheritahcb tax—What legacy subject to.
A bequest of $500 was made “to the Missionary Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, in the city of New York, known as the Paulist Fathers;” there was no proof of any special exemption, either by charter or any special act, of the beneficiaries from the collateral inheritance tax; no provision of chapter 13 of the Revised Statutes, nor of any amendment thereof, was shown to take this legacy out of the general rule declared in section 1. Neld, the said legacy is subject to the tax imposed by the collateral inheritance tax act.
Bliss & Schley, for the Sisters of the Poor, etc.; J. P. Campbell, for proponent.

Opinion:
Ransom, S.
The comptroller objects to the confirmation •of the appraiser's report, upon the ground that the appraiser has failed to report, as subject to taxation, a legacy of $500 "to the Missionary Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, in the city of New York, known as the Paulist Fathers," and asks to have such legacy included in said report.
In the case of Catlin et al. v. Trustees of Trinity College, and Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, etc. (22 N. Y. State Rep., 189), the •court of appeals held that "when, therefore, a corporation not exempted from a taxation by its charter, or some special enactment, but governed by the general law, claims •exemption, it must be able to point' to some provision in •chapter 13 (of the Revised Statutes), or to some amendment which takes it out of the general rule declared in section 1, or else its claim must be disallowed. It has never been the general policy of the state to wholly exempt the property, either real or personal, of incorporated churches, colleges or charitable institutions, from taxation. Complete exemption, where adopted, has been accomplished through special acts applicable to particular and specified corporations. We know of no general statute exempting the personal property of religious societies, or of colleges, from taxation, and we are of opinion that neither St. Paul's church nor Trinity college was; 'exempted by law from taxation, ' within the collateral inheritance act of 1887."
In the case at bar, there is no proof of any special exemption, either by charter or by any special act, and under the -decision before quoted, the legatees' claim must be disallowed.
The bequest to the congregation known as the "Paulist Fathers " must be held to be subject to the tax imposed by the collateral inheritance tax act.