Court Opinion

ID: 9812440
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 22:39:55.523175+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:24:58.641422
License: Public Domain

Walker, J.,
dissenting: I am unable to agree with my brethren of the-majority in this case. I think that much of what has been said by the’ Court is irrelevant to the question presented in the record. It is unquestionably true that the State has the power to tax all kinds of property and estates therein, because one kind receives as much protection from it as another; and it is just, therefore, that this power should exist, to be exercised when it is expedient to do so, or the interests of the State may require that it should be done. But this is not the question here, but quite another, which is, has the State exercised its sovereign power to tax with respect to dower ? I contend that it has not, and did not intend to-do so, for if it it did, the language we find in the statute would not have-been employed, but something very different. If dower does not pass “by the husband’s will or under the intestate laws,” it is not taxable, because-these are the very words of the statute.
The estate of dower is one of great antiquity, and so much so that it has been difficult to trace its origin; and even Coke and Blackstone and writers of even an earlier period have been baffled in their efforts to find its original source. Coke said that it was certainly the law of England before the Norman conquest that a widow should continue forty days in her husband’s mansion after his death, within which time (called her quarantine) her dower was to be assigned her. 2 Blackstone, p. 135;. Coke Litt., 32b. And one among our greatest commentators, if not entitled to the first place, has said that it is possible that it might be with us the relic of a Danish custom; since, according to the historians of that country dower was introduced into Denmark by Swein, “the father of our Canute the Great,” out of gratitude to the Danish ladies, who sold all their jewels to ransom him when taken prisoner by the Yandals. 2 Blackstone Comm., 129. It has been described as a legal, equitable, and moral *689right, favored by the law in. a high degree, and with life and liberty, held to be sacred. Coke Litt., 124b. “Dower was, indeed, proverbially the foster-child of the law, and so highly was it rated in the catalogue of social rights as to be placed in the same scale of importance with liberty and life. Favorabilia in lege sunt, vita, fiscus, dos, libertas, was the maxim in the courts, and is frequently cited by the old text-writers and reporters.” Park on Dower, 2; Coke Litt., 124b. It is an institution of the State, existing by reason of public policy (14 Cyc., 885), and is not dependent upon the husband’s will for its efficacy, but becomes the property of the wife, as his widow, in spite of anything he may.say or do. He has no hand in its making. It grows out of the marriage, it is true, and is one of its incidents, but it is not derived from the husband by descent or devolution of any kind, nor does it come to the widow by his intestacy — that is the occasion, but not the cause, of it. It derives its existence from a law of its own, and not from any laws of intestacy. The latter apply when there is devolution or succession from him who dies— the decedent — but dower vests in the widow not in either way, as it is the creation of the law and does not emanate from the husband, nor is it dependent upon his intestacy, except in the sense that it vests in possession and enjoyment at his death, as a vested remainder does when, under a will, it takes effect at the expiration of the particular estate. It may well be doubted upon high authority whether any intestate laws existed at the time when dower originated in the very ancient past. But whatever may be said, it is no part of the husband’s succession, for she comes into this estate neither as his heir by inheritance nor as his distributee by succession or devolution, and does not in any sense take from him, but against his will. He may devise her a part of his property in lieu of dower, but this is not dower, and she does not take as his widow, but as his devisee. If she does not dissent, she takes under the will, not dower, but something else which is a part of his estate and which is taxable, because she then comes within the letter of the law, as she takes by the will. But she may have dower when he dies testate instead of intestate, as when he makes a will and ignores her entirely. If this was the case here, could she be taxable? She takes not under the will, because she was left out in the disposition of her husband’s property, and she takes not her dower under any intestate law, because there is no intestacy. Where the husband wills her property expressly in lieu of dower, if she does not dissent from the will she is deprived of dower by her election to take under the will, for neither justice nor the law will permit her to take both under and against the will — in consistent benefits. Again, a person always takes, under intestate laws, something that the intestate, if so minded, could have devised or bequeathed, but he could not have devised her dower, and it follows, both logically and conclusively, that *690sbe does not acquire ber dower under any sucb law. Counsel were asked, in tbe argument: “If tbe busband bad conveyed all of bis real' property, and every interest be bad therein, would tbe dower pass?” Tbe answer, of course, was in tbe negative, as it bad to be. If be cannot pass ber dower by bis deed (even if be specially and by express words included it), bow can it pass from bim to ber if be died intestate ? He bad no estate or interest in it to pass. It is as separate and distinct from bis estate as if be had never owned tbe land itself from which it is allotted.
We do not agree with tbe proposition that all property passes either by will or under tbe intestate laws, for there are cases where this cannot be said correctly. Tbe interest of tbe wife in an estate by entirety does not so pass at tbe death of tbe busband, for sbe does not take ber interest from bim by will or otherwise, and there are other instances. There is a wide difference between an interest vesting in another at tbe death of a person, which merely fixes tbe time, and tbe taking of that interest under or through bim. It may be derived altogether independently of bim, and, whether technically considered or not, it is not passed by will, nor by the laws of intestacy. Tbe law is a technical science, and its principles should bo applied to all cases where applicable, and tbe Legislature is presumed to have acted in view of tbe established law and tbe accepted meaning of words when it jjasses a statute.
A statute should be interpreted according to its language. We cannot go beyond its four corners for aid in its construction. Tbe intent must be found in its words. Nor can we substitute our opinion of what is right or just for tbe declared or expressed intention of tbe Legislature, but must presume, absolutely and conclusively, that what was meant is what was said. This is the cardinal rule, and is never departed from. It may be that a widow’s dower should be taxed, but sbe has a perfect right to shield herself from a burden which has not been imposed, by insisting upon tbe application of tbe simple and familiar rule we have stated. She says to us: “Tbe power to tax is conceded, but has not been exercised, from some motive of benevolence or consideration for ber; but whatever tbe motive, tbe Legislature has not declared its will that tbe widow’s dower should be taxed, and you have no right to do what tbe Legislature has not done.”
If we need any authority to back our conclusion, we have it, most abundantly. Tbe courts of this country are quite unanimous in bolding that, under similar statutes, tbe dower is not taxable as an inheritance or “under laws of intestacy.” Tbe Illinois cases are tbe solitary exceptions, and have been severely criticised as giving tbe wrong rule in sucb cases, and, while paying due deference to tbe Court, they are said to be illogical, being wrong in their premises, reasoning, and conclusion. Some of the cases which sustain our view are tbe following, among tbe many: *691“This is a special tax, and the rule is, that laws imposing such tax are to be construed strictly against the government and favorably to the taxpayer.” Crenshaw v. Moore, 124 Tenn., 528. “It has been uniformly held that an inheritance tax is not a tax on the property or the real estate of a deceased person, but is a tax laid upon the privilege or right of succession to that property.” McDaniel v. Byrkett, 120 Art., 295. “This right (right of dower) originates with the marriage. It is an incumbrance upon the title of the heir at law and is superior to the claims of the husband’s creditors. Its origin is so ancient that neither Coke nor Blackstone can trace it, and it is as ‘widespread as the Christian religion, and enters into the contract of marriage among all Christians.’ . . . Whether it be considered that the widow holds her dower in the nature of a purchaser from her husband by virtue of the marriage contract, or whether it be merely a provision of the law made for her benefit, it cannot be considered that her right is in succession to that of her husband upon his death, or that the husband bestows it upon her in contemplation of death. While it is true that her right to dower is not consummated until the death of the husband, and that it is carved out of only such realty as he owned at his death, it does not follow from this premise that the widow succeeds to his title by the intestate laws. She derives it by virtue of the marriage, and in her right as wife, to be consummated in severalty to her upon the death of her husband.” Crenshaw v. Moore, supra. “It is true that dower has its origin and continuance by force of the law, and depends upon the husband’s death for its consummation. But it is quite another thing to suppose that the estate is dependent upon the law of succession, or owes its existence to any such transfer as the inheritance-tax statutes contemplate. Dower comes to a wife by virtue of the marriage; and the death of the husband serves only to consummate, not to transmit, it. The law that confers dower on the widow is not the law that appoints the inheritance property of a decedent to designated heirs.” Eoss on Inheritance Taxation, sec. 56. The courts of Pennsylvania have held that a widow’s dower is not liable for inheritance tax. Re Avery’s Estate, 34 Pa. St., 204. The courts of Louisiana have held the same. In re Marsal’s Estate, 118 La., 212. “We conclude, therefore, that the widow of a deceased person does not take dower as the heir of her husband or by virtue of the intestate laws, but that this estate is inimical to the claim of the heir, and carved out of the estate of the deceased, in spite of and in derogation to the rights of heirs under the intestate laws.” McDaniel v. Byrkett, 120 Ark., 295. “What the wife receives . . . she receives, not as an heir of her husband, but in her own right — something which belongs to her absolutely, and of which she could not have been deprived by will or by any other voluntary act of her husband without her consent. TTnder that section, she is not an heir, *692within the meaning of our intestate or succession statutes.” In re Bullen's Estate, 47 Utah, 96. “Strictly speaking, the-widow’s share should be considered immune, rather than exempt, from an inheritance tax. It is free, rather than freed, from such tax. It is not excepted from the taxable class, because it was never in such class. Like all debts, taxes, costs, expenses, and similar items, it is deducted before any inheritance tax is assessed. The share of the realty and personalty which, under our law, go to the widow, index!endently of any will or act of the husband, is not, so to sxoeak, a part of his estate, and is no more liable to a succession tax at his death than is her individual property.” Re Strahan's Estate, 93 Neb., 828. “A widow’s dower estate in the lands of her deceased husband, which became vested on her marriage, and consummated on the death of her husband, independent of the husband’s will,'and not by virtue thereof, was not subject to transfer tax.” In re Weiler’s Estate, 122 N. Y. Supplement, 608. The Supreme Court of Idaho, where the doctrine of community property exists, held that such property was not liable for inheritance tax. Kohny v. Dunbar, 21 Idaho, 258. The Supreme Court of Arkansas, in discussing the case of Billings v. People, 109 Ill., 472, said: “The opinion in the Billings case sets out the statute of that State upon the subject of dower, from which it appears that the estate of courtesy has been given alike to the husband and the wife, and each being given a certain fixed interest in the lands upon the death of either sx>ouse, then the estate is called dower, but it is not the dower of the common law, as the term, ‘dower,’ at common law, related exclusively to the interest the widow had in the real estate of inheritance.” McDaniel v. Byrkett, supra. While the report shows that the Billings case was carried to the Supreme Court of the United States, a reading of the report of the case there will show that the widow did not appeal from the decision of the lower court, and the question of the liability of the widow’s dower for taxation was not discussed in that Court. Billings v. Illinois, 188 U. S., 97.
The question of the liability of a widow’s dower to an inheritance tax has been passed upon by the courts (upon statutes practically the same as that of North Carolina) of Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New York, Utah, and Tennesseeand the courts of all those States, excexJt that of Illinois, have held that a widow’s dower was not subject to taxation. While the Supreme Court of Illinois has held to the contrary, it will be noticed that this court cited no decisions on this subject except its own. The decision in the Billings case has been discussed by nearly all the courts in which this matter has arisen since its rendition, and they have all refused to follow the decision of that court. The question of the liability for inheritance tax of community property held by the wife as survivor has been x>assed upon by the courts of Idaho and *693Nevada, and they hold that the community property is not liable to inheritance taxes, because it is not derived by one of the spouses from the other, and there is therefore no succession of it.
It may be added that the Illinois decision was to a great extent influenced by the peculiar wording of the statute of that State in regard to dower. It is not, as we have said, the common-law dower, but an estate with its name, without its legal characteristics.
It is a maxim that three things be favored in law — life, liberty, and dower. Thomas’ Coke, 14-; 4 Bacon’s Works, 345.
We learn in 2 Blackstone, pp. 131 et seq., that there were five species of dower: (1) De la flus telle, where;the widow was endowed of the fairest of the -lands held by her in socage, which discharged that held by the lord in chivalry. This disappeared when military tenures were abolished. (2) Dower by particular custom, where she received the whole, the half, or one-quarter of her husband’s lands. (3) Dower ad ostium ecclesice, or dower at the door or porch of the church, when tenant in fee simple endows the wife of the whole or any part of his lands as he shall please to give-her, which, in certain circumstances, she might reject and resort to her dower at common law. (4) Dower ex assensu patris was a species of that last kind of dower mentioned, and derived its name from the fact that the dower was taken from the lands of the husband’s father with the latter’s consent. (5) Dower by the common law, which gave her one-third part of all the lands and tenants in which her husband had an estate of inheritance, and of which he was seized at any time during the coverture, to hold for the time of her natural life.
None of these forms of dower, except that of the common law, or dower allotted from the lands of which the husband died seized, ever were known to our law in regard to estates. Formerly, when the widow was endowed of lands only which her husband died seized, it was like dower in copyhold lands, which was governed by custom as to her title and the quantity and proportion she would take, also called free bench, and contradistinguished from dower, which is the estate of the widow in all lands of which the husband was seized at any time during the covert-ure. Blackstone says that dower ad ostium acclesice has long since fallen into total disuse because of its uncertainty, and for the reason, too, that she might receive from the law, independently of the husband’s volition, a fixed part of his estate in lands of which he was seized at any time during the marriage. This brief review of the subject, based upon the authority of Coke and Blackstone, shows very clearly that we can derive no aid in the construction of our law from old and obsolete rules and customs which have been ignored and finally repealed long ago; and no writer, ancient or modern, even intimates that the husband could, of his will, alien or impair- the wife’s common-law estate of dower, or that she *694acquires lier right or title from him, by bis intestacy or otherwise; and this is true, whether the dower is allotted by the law of this State from lands of which the husband was seized at any time during the coverture or only of those of which he died seized. In neither case was there any descent or devolution from him which would bring it within the meaning of an inheritance or succession for the purpose of taxation. It is for this reason that the courts have held with practical unanimity, as we have shown, that the wife’s dower does not come within the reach of inheritance or succession taxes.
The' fact that the widow is allowed an exemption of $10,000 under the last act, whereas no such exemption was allowed before, does not affect the question, so as to show that her dower is taxable, as she may derive property, both real and personal, from her husband by will, and the latter kind of property under the intestacy law, as one of his distributees, and from these exemptions would be taken, as they come within the meaning of the provision taxing property acquired from her husband by will or the intestacy laws, and are therefore taxable, and to them the exemption of $10,000 would apply, and not to property already not taxable by the language of the statute: You cannot take an exemption from something not taxable, or an exemption from an exemption.
Justice IIoke concurs in the dissenting opinion.