Opinion ID: 1987598
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did Dorothea die seized or possessed of the principal which descended, by operation of the intestate laws, from her Father's Estate to her Estate after her death?

Text: That brings us to the final and most important question  Did Dorothea die seized or possessed of this remainder interest within the provisions of the Act of 1919? It is obvious that Dorothea did not die possessed of this vested interest. We said in Good Estate, 407 Pa., supra (page 646): The words `dying seized or possessed' mean dying seized of a vested interest, even though the actual enjoyment and possession thereof be postponed or arise in the future. McGlensey's Estate, 7 Pa. D. & C. 519 (per Judge JOHN MARSHALL GEST); Starr's Estate, 25 Dist. 55 (per Judge GEST); Swann's Estate, 1 Dist. 579; Matthiessen's Estate, 17 Dist. 201; Gebhard's Estate, 20 Dist. 529. See to the same effect, Milliken's Estate, 206 Pa. 149, 55 A. 853; Mayer's Estate, 330 Pa. 39, 198 A. 439; Gelm's Estate, 61 Pa. Superior Ct. 228. Does such a vested interest constitute an interest of which Dorothea died seized at her death, within the language and meaning of the Act of 1919, supra? Appellants correctly contend that every tax statute must be construed most strongly and strictly against the Government and if there be a reasonable doubt as to its construction or its application to a particular case, that doubt must be resolved in favor of the taxpayer: Good Estate, 407 Pa., supra; Commonwealth v. Allied Building Credits, Inc., 385 Pa. 370, 375, 123 A. 2d 686; Gould v. Gould, 245 U.S. 151, 153; United States v. Merriam, 263 U.S. 179, 188; Commonwealth v. P.R.T. Co., 287 Pa. 190, 196, 134 A. 455. Appellants also contend that the Transfer Inheritance Tax Act of June 20, 1919, supra, was repealed by the Inheritance and Estate Tax Act of June 15, 1961, supra, and since the new Act eliminated the words died seized or possessed a substantial change in the law was clearly made, and consequently the 1919 Act was never intended to cover and include this kind of a vested interest. The Court said in Commonwealth v. Moon, 383 Pa. 18, 117 A. 2d 96 (page 27): It is a canon of statutory construction that where words of a later statute differ from those of a previous one on the same subject, they presumably are intended to have a different construction: Fidelity Trust Company v. Kirk et al., 344 Pa. 455, 25 A. 2d 825; Panik v. Didra, 370 Pa. 488, 88 A. 2d 730; McFarland Estate, 377 Pa. 290, 296, 105 A. 2d 92. However, even when these contentions are considered in connection with the question here involved, we are of the opinion (1) that the cases relied upon by appellants are not here controlling, and (2) that Dorothea died seized of the principal which descended to her by operation of the intestate laws from her father's estate, and (3) that the transfer from Dorothea to her legatees of this corpus is taxable under the Transfer Inheritance Tax Act of 1919, supra. Decree affirmed; each party to pay own costs.