Court Opinion

ID: 9516250
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 23:39:09.930842+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:07.539486
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH, dissenting in part: I dissent from the portion of the opinion which decides that “Trustees and other fiduciaries, whether corporate or not, do not own property as natural persons, and they were not exempted from taxation by article IX-A.” As the result of this holding, personal property which would be exempt from taxation if the legal ownership were vested in individuals, severally, or as joint tenants or tenants in common, would lose its exempt status if held by a fiduciary, individual or corporate, while the beneficial ownership is vested in these same individuals, severally, jointly, or in common. ' The most obvious and annoying anomaly which results from the majority’s holding arises in connection with the estates of decedents. Under the majority’s holding, property owned by an individual and therefore exempt, loses its exempt status during the period that it is held by the administrator or executor and regains its exempt status upon distribution to the individual heirs or legatees. An examination of the Principal and Income Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 30, par. 159 et seq.) in the light of the majority opinion will demonstrate the numerous injustices and inequities which will result from this decision. Furthermore, the majority opinion will curtail, to a great extent, the effective use of trusts and the utilization of the provisions of the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 3, par. 531 et seq.). Absent amendment or repeal of section 27a of the Revenue Act of 1939 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 120, par. 508a) March 31 will become the magic date for termination, and April 2 the magic date for creation, of fiduciary estates. In no other area of taxation is a beneficiary penalized because the property of which he is the beneficial owner is held by a fiduciary, and courts and fiduciaries will now be confronted with the question of whether “men of prudence, discretion and intelligence” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 148, par. 32) may safely counsel or approve the use of a device which has for so long performed service of inestimable value. Of course, the simple solution to the problem is to hold that individuals who own the beneficial interest in personal property, severally, jointly or in common, are “natural persons” (49 Ill.2d 137, 148) within the contemplation of article IX-A and that property so owned is exempt. It would not be difficult to devise a return to be filed by fiduciaries with respect to property held by them in which the exemption was claimed, and to do so would, in my opinion, more nearly achieve the intent of article IX-A than does the majority opinion.