PREFACE. The subject of inheritance taxes is a branch of the law which is daily growing in importance, and it is so woven into the texture of our taxing systems that the principles now in force bid fair to be permanent. The legislation of 1911, with a few notable exceptions, was productive of no great changes, and we believe that the statutes and decisions in most of the states have so crystallized the law that an authoritative statement at this time is not out of place. The lapse of over fifteen years since the publication of the last general work on Inheritance Taxes seems to furnish ample reason for a new book at the present time, as during that period the statutes in all the states have substantially changed and most of them have been in force long enough to receive final construction by the courts. It has been the authors' aim to make this book of practical importance to the banker and investor as well as to the lawyer, and with this in mind we have printed in the second part of this book all existing statutes, collated with judicial interpretation of those statutes. To make clear the application of the early decisions without extended research, we have also printed all the earlier statutes referred to in reported cases. We have also prepared tables for ready use by investors, showing the law in each state at a glance and containing a list of the corporations whose stocks are listed on the stock exchanges, with the place of incorporation of each, which we believe should prove of incalculable value to the investor who desires so to place his funds as to insure his family against exorbitant or double taxation. We have analyzed with great care all reported opinions and have quoted at length in the second part of the volume instructive discussions on disputed points by our leading courts. In short, we hope and believe that the investor and lawyer will find everything in this work which he may care to know about inheritance taxes in any State. The inheritance tax of reasonable provisions has so many features to commend it that we believe it will prove a permanent feature of our tax systems, although we appreciate it is regarded by many as only fittingly described in the words of Macbeth: "The time has been That, when the brains were out, the man would die, With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, ARTHUR W. BLAKEMORE. Jan. 1, 1912. A death duty1 is an exaction by the state to be collected from the property left by a deceased person while in its custody, pre- scribed upon the occasion of his death, and the consequent devo- lution of his property by force of its laws.2 'Death Duties. The comprehensive English term for a variety of specific duties levied under acts of Parliament on the estates of deceased persons. In- cluded under the term are (1) probate duties, (2) account duties, (3) legacy duties, (4) succession duties, and (5) estate duties. - International Encyclopedia. The fact that a statute is called an inheritance tax is of much significance. No term sufficiently comprehensive could be more aptly employed to embrace a tax upon the right to acquire interests in both real and personal property passing by will or by inheritance, whether lineal or collateral, than the term "inheritance tax." By this term the legislature intended to express the specific nature of the tax and that it should operate upon interests to which a The word "inheritance" is no doubt properly confined to property passing by descent or by operation of law. But by popular use this word has become applicable to cases of testacy and is broad |