California has adopted an entirely new statute. Approved May 23, 1917, but it does not change the rates established in 1915 and shown in the foregoing table.

The new statute is in full as follows:

CHAPTER 589.

An Act to establish a tax on gifts, legacies, inheritances, bequests, devises, successions and transfers, to provide for its collection and to direct the disposition of its proceeds; to provide for the enforcement of liens created by this act and by any act hereby repealed and for suits to quiet title against claims of liens arising hereunder, or under an act hereby repealed, to be known as the "inheritance tax act"; and to repeal chapter five hundred ninety-five of the laws of the session of the legislature of California of 1913, approved June 16, 1913, known as the "inheritance tax act," and all amendments thereto, and to repeal all acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act.

In effect July 27, 1917.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. (1) This act shall be known as the "inheritance tax act." (2) The words "estate" and "property" as used in this act shall be taken to mean the real and personal property or interest therein of the testator, intestate, grantor, bargainor, vendor, or donor passing or transferred to individual legatees, devisees, heir, next of kin, grantees, donees, vendees, or successors, and shall include all personal property within or without the state; provided, that for the purpose of this act the one-half of the community property which goes to the surviving wife, on the death of the husband, under the provisions of section one thousand four hundred two of the civil code, shall not be deemed to pass to her as heir to her husband, but shall, for the purpose of this act, be deemed to go, pass, or be transferred to her for valuable and adequate consideration and her said one-half of the community shall not be subject to the provisions of this act; provided, further, that in case of a transfer of community property from the husband to the wife, within the meaning of subdivision (3) or (5) of section two of this act, one-half of the community property so transferred shall not be subject to the provisions of this act; and provided, further, that the presumption that property acquired by either husband or wife after marriage is community property, shall not obtain for the purpose of this act as against any claim by the state for the tax hereby imposed; but the burden of proving such property to be community property shall rest upon the person claiming the same to be community property.

(3) The word " "transfer as used in this act shall be taken to include the passing of property or any interest therein, in possession or enjoyment, present or future, by inheritance, descent, devise, succession, bequest, grant, deed, bargain, sale, gift, or appointment in the manner herein described.

(4) The word "decedent" as used in this act shall include the testator, intestate, grantor, bargainor, vendor, or donor.

(5) The words "county treasurer" and "inheritance tax appraiser," as used in this act, shall be taken to mean the treasurer or the inheritance tax appraiser of the county of the superior court having jurisdiction as provided in section fifteen of this act.

§ 2. A tax shall be and is hereby imposed upon the transfer of any property, real, personal or mixed, or of any interest therein or income therefrom in trust or otherwise, to persons, institutions or corporations, not hereinafter exempted, to be paid to the treasurer of the proper county, as hereinafter directed, for the use of the state, said taxes to be upon the market value of such property at the rates hereinafter prescribed and only upon the excess over the exemptions, hereinafter granted, in the following cases:

(1) When the transfer is by will or by the intestate or homestead laws of this state, from any person dying seized or possessed of the property while a resident of the state, or by any order of court setting apart property pursuant to article one, chapter five, title eleven, part three of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(2) When the transfer is by will or intestate laws of property within this state and the decedent was a nonresident of the state at the time of his death, or by any order of court setting apart property pursuant to article one, chapter five, title eleven, part three of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(3) When the transfer is of property made by a resident, or by a nonresident when such non-resident's property is within this state, by deed, grant, bargain, sale, assignment or gift, made without valuable and adequate consideration (i. e., a consideration equal in money or in money's worth to the full value of the property transferred):

(a) In contemplation of the death of the grantor, vendor, assignor or donor, or,

(b) Intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after such death.

When such person, institution or corporation becomes beneficially entitled in possession or expectancy to any property or the income therefrom, by any such transfer, whether made before or after the passage of this act.

(4) The words "contemplation of death," as used in this act, shall be taken to include that expectancy of death which actuates the mind of a person on the execution of his will, and in nowise shall said words be limited and restricted to that expectancy of death which actuates the mind of a person making a gift causa mortis; and it is hereby declared to be the intent and purpose of this act to tax any and all transfers which are made in lieu of or to avoid the passing of property transferred by testate or intestate laws.

(5) Whenever property, real or personal, is held in the joint names of two or more persons, or is deposited in banks or other institutions or depositaries in the joint names of two or more persons and payable to either or the survivor, upon the death of one of such persons, the right of the surviving joint tenant or joint tenants, person or persons to the immediate ownership or possession and enjoyment of such property shall be deemed a transfer taxable under the provisions of this act in the same manner as though the whole property to which such transfer relates belonged absolutely to the deceased joint tenant or joint depositor and had been devised or bequeathed to the surviving joint tenant or joint tenants, person or persons, by such deceased joint tenant or joint depositor by will, excepting therefrom such part thereof as may be proved by the surviving joint tenant or joint tenants to have originally belonged to him or them and never to have belonged to the decedent.

(6) Whenever any person, trustee or corporation shall exercise a power of appointment derived from any disposition of property made either before or after the passage of this act, such appointment, when made, shall be deemed a transfer taxable under the provisions of this act, in the same manner as though the property to which such appointment relates belonged absolutely to the donee of such power, and had been bequeathed or devised by such donee by will; and whenever any person, trustee or corporation possessing such power of appointment so derived shall omit or fail to exercise the same within the time provided therefor, in whole or in part, a transfer taxable under the provisions of this act shall be deemed to take place to the extent of such omission or failure, in the same manner as though the persons, trustees or corporations thereby becoming entitled to the possession or enjoyment of the property to which such power related had succeeded thereto by a will of the donee of the power failing to exercise such power, taking effect at the time of such omission or failure.

(7) Whenever a decedent appoints or names one or more executors or trustees, and makes a bequest or devise of property to them in lieu of commissions or allowances, which otherwise would be liable to said tax, or appoints them his residuary legatees, and said bequest, devise, or residuary legacies exceeds what would be a reasonable compensation for their services, such excess over and above the exemptions herein provided for shall be liable to said tax; and the superior court in which the probate proceedings are pending shall fix the compensation.

(8) Where any property shall, after the passage of this act, be transferred subject to any charge, estate or interest, determinable by the death of any

person, or at any period ascertainable only by reference to death, the increase accruing to any person or corporation upon the extinction or determination of such charge, estate or interest, shall be deemed a transfer of property taxable under the provisions of this act in the same manner as though the person or corporation beneficially entitled thereto had been acquired such increase from the person from whom the title to their respective estates or interests is derived.

(9) When more than one transfer within the meaning of any of the preceding subdivisions of this section has been made, either before or after the passage of this act, by a decedent to one person, the tax shall be imposed upon the aggregate market value of all of the property so transferred to such person in the same manner and to the same extent as if all of the property so transferred were actually transferred by one transfer.

(10) In determining the market value of the property transferred, no deduction shall be made for any inheritance tax or estate tax paid to the government of the United States.

§ 3. Such taxes shall be and remain a lien upon the property passed or transferred until paid; provided, that said lien shall be limited to the property chargeable therewith, and the person to whom the property passes or is transferred, and all administrators, executors and trustees of every estate so transferred or passed, shall be liable for any and all such taxes until the same shall have been paid as hereinafter directed. The provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure relative to the limitation of time of enforcing a civil remedy shall not apply to any proceeding or action taken to levy, appraise, assess, determine, or enforce the collection of any tax or penalty prescribed by this article, and this section shall be construed as having been in effect as of date of the original enactment of the inheritance tax law; provided, that unless sued for within five years after they are due and legally demandable, such taxes, or any taxes accruing under any act herein repealed, shall cease to be a lien as against any bona fide purchaser of said property; and provided, that no such lien shall cease within two years from the date of the passage of this

act.

§ 4. When the property of any beneficial interest therein so passed or transferred exceeds in value the exemption hereinafter specified and shall not exceed in value twenty-five thousand dollars, the tax hereby imposed shall be: (1) Where the person or persons entitled to any beneficial interest in such property shall be the husband, wife, lineal ancestor, lineal issue of the decedent or any child adopted as such in conformity with the laws of this state, or any child to whom such decedent for not less than ten years prior to such transfer stood in the mutually acknowledged relation of a parent (provided, however, such relationship began at or before the child's fifteenth birthday, and was continuous for said ten years thereafter), or any lineal issue of such adopted or mutually acknowledged child, at the rate of one per centum of the clear value of such interest in such property.

(2) Where the person or persons entitled to any beneficial interest in such property shall be the brother or sister of a descendant of a brother or sister of a decedent, a wife or widow of a son, or the husband of a daughter of the decedent at the rate of three per centum of the clear value of such interest in such property.

(3) Where the person or persons entitled to any beneficial interest in such property shall be the brother or sister of the father or mother, or a descendant of a brother or sister of the father or mother of the decedent, at the rate of four per centum of the clear value of such interest in such property.

(4) Where the person or persons entitled to any beneficial interest in such property shall be in any other degree of collateral consanguinity than is hereinbefore stated or shall be a stranger in blood to the decedent, or shall be a body politic or corporate, at the rate of five per centum of the clear value of such interest in such property.

§ 5. (1) When the market value of such property or interest passed or transferred to any of the persons mentioned in subdivision one of section four exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars, the rates of tax upon such excess shall be as follows:

(a) Upon all in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars and up to fifty thousand dollars, two per centum of such excess.

(b) Upon all in excess of fifty thousand dollars and up to one hundred thousand dollars, four per centum of such excess.

(c) Upon all in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and up to two hundred thousand dollars, seven per centum of such excess.

(d) Upon all in excess of two hundred thousand dollars and up to five hundred thousand dollars, ten per centum of such excess.

(e) Upon all in excess of five hundred thousand dollars and up to one million dollars, twelve per centum of such excess.

(f) Upon all in excess of one million dollars, fifteen per centum of such

excess.

(2) When the market value of such property or interest passed or transferred to any of the persons mentioned in subdivision two of section four exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars, the rates of tax upon such excess shall be as follows:

(a) Upon all in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars and up to fifty thousand dollars, six per centum of such excess.

(b) Upon all in excess of fifty thousand dollars and up to one hundred thousand dollars, nine per centum of such excess.

(c) Upon all in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and up to two hundred thousand dollars, twelve per centum of such excess.

(d) Upon all in excess of two hundred thousand dollars and up to five hundred thousand dollars, fifteen per centum of such excess.

(e) Upon all in excess of five hundred thousand dollars and up to one million dollars, twenty per centum of such excess.

(f) Upon all in excess of one million dollars, twenty-five per centum of such excess.

(3) When the market value of such property or interest passed or transferred to any of the persons mentioned in subdivision three of section four exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars, the rates of tax upon such excess shall be as follows:

(a) Upon all in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars and up to fifty thousand dollars, eight per centum of such excess.

(b) Upon all in excess of fifty thousand dollars and up to one hundred thousand dollars, ten per centum of such excess.

(c) Upon all in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and up to two hundred thousand dollars, fifteen per centum of such excess.

(d) Upon all in excess of two hundred thousand dollars and up to five hundred thousand dollars, twenty per centum of such excess.

(e) Upon all in excess of five hundred thousand dollars and up to one million dollars, twenty-five per centum of such excess.

(f) Upon all in excess of one million dollars, thirty per centum of such

excess.

(4) When the market value of such property or interest passed or transferred to any of the persons mentioned in subdivision four of section four exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars. the rates of tax upon such excess shall be as follows:

(a) Upon all in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars and up to fifty thousand dollars, ten per centum of such excess.

(b) Upon all in excess of fifty thousand dollars and up to one hundred thousand dollars, fifteen per centum of such excess.

(c). Upon all in excess of one hundred thousand dollars and up to two hundred thousand dollars, twenty per centum of such excess.

(d) Upon all in excess of two hundred thousand dollars and up to five hundred thousand dollars, twenty-five per centum of such excess.

(e) Upon all in excess of five hundred thousand dollars, thirty per centum of such excess.

86. The following exemptions from the tax are hereby allowed:

(1) All property transferred to societies, corporations, and institutions now or hereafter exempted by law from taxation, or to any public corporation, or to any society, corporation, institution, or association of persons