NOTICE OF HEARING.

Section 1087-15, subsection 2, provides that notice in writing of the hearing to determine the inheritance tax shall be mailed to the public administrator and the tax commission not less than twenty days before such hearing, upon such blanks, and containing such information as the tax commission may provide.

Mere notice of the hearing mailed to the commission can serve no useful purpose. In the very great majority of cases the estate is small; the public administrator can readily investigate the appraisal and the question of whether all the property of deceased is included, and can determine the true value of the property. The executors, the beneficiaries, and their attorneys now look favorably in most instances, upon the tax as a wise, equitable and burdenless means of raising public revenue; and there is commonly no serious objection to a full true valuation, nor to the payment of the tax. In such cases neither counsel nor attendance is necessary on the part of the commission.

But there are often large estates, and some smaller ones, where the advice of the tax commission, and often attendance in court by its representative is helpful in a high degree to the public administrator and the court. In some cases there are conveyances of property by the deceased in his lifetime in contemplation of death. In occasional cases there is more or less concerted effort to evade the tax by under-appraisment and by failure to make a complete showing of the property of the deceased. Often the property consists, in material part, of stocks of banks or other corporations, bonds. securities and intangibles, the value of which is difficult to ascertain. Large stocks of merchandise, manufacturers' stocks, real estate outside of the county, are not always easy of appraisal. In such cases the commission frequently has sources of information not readily available to the public administrator. It frequently happens that unusual and sometimes difficult questions of law present themselves. In some cases the public administrator is not a lawyer. In all of these cases it is the duty of the commission to be of assistance: and the commission, to render its best service, must have some definite information a reasonable length of

time in advance of the hearing. Hence it will be the policy of the commission not to waive service of the notice, but to require that it be mailed as provided by law.

A schedule of questions is attached to the notice, the replies to which will enable the commission to determine readily to which cases special attention need be given, and which may well be left to the sole attention of the public administrator and the court. Where the service of the commission, either through correspondence or personal attendance appears to be advisable, the matter will be taken up promptly with the public administrator or with the attorneys representing the estate.

The commission has prescribed the following form of notice with the appended list of questions:

County Court. . .

In the matter of the

:

County, Wisconsin-In Probate.

..of Deceased.

. term of the county

.....

Notice is hereby given, that at a court to be held in and for said county at the court house in the city of in said county on the .. Tuesday A. D. 19. ..., at the opening of court on that day the following matter will be heard and considered:

(being the

day) of

The application of

of the will (or estate) of

executor (or administrator) deceased, late of ...in said county, for the examination and allowance of his final account, and for the assignment of the residue of the estate of said deceased to such persons as are by law entitled thereto; and for the determination and adjudication of the inheritance tax, if any, payable in said estate. Dated

A. D. 19....
BY THE COURT:

7. Net estate to be distributed

8. Is the property appraised fully at clear market value?

9. Was interest to date of death on notes, mortgages, etc., in

cluded?

10. Is any property of decedent not included in inventory known

11. Did decedent convey any property before death to relatives or others without full consideration?

12. State the names of the heirs or legatees, relationship to deceased if any, estimated distributive share to each, exemption to which each is entitled, rate, and amount of tax due from each. (See reverse side.)

Provision is made by Section 1087-17, as amended by Ch. 627, Laws of 1913, for the appointment of the public administrator or other interested person as special administrator to determine the inheritance tax if any, in the cases described in that section. Many cases arise where property is conveyed by deed in the form of a gift, or for a nominal or inadequate consideration, to children or others, sometimes reserving a life estate to the grantors. In many such cases the thought of evading the inheritance tax may or may not have existed; but such conveyances usually have the effect of annulling the purpose of the inheritance tax law, namely, to impose a tax upon the succession of property from generation to generation for the needs of the state. Public administrators and county Judges should scrutinize such conveyances carefully; and if it fairly appears that the conveyance was made either to evade the tax, or in contemplation of death, or to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after death, as where a life estate or other beneficial interest is reserved, application should be made promptly for such special administration as may be necessary to determine the tax and to secure its collection. In such cases it is particularly desirable to offer an opportunity to the beneficiary or other person interested to make the application,

thus saving expense to the estate, and securing the coöperation of those interested. But where the persons interested refuse or neglect to make the application, the public administrator should do so without hesitation. Where the administration is granted to the public administrator he is entitled not only to the usual commission provided for public administrators, but also to a reasonable compensation for his services and expenses to be determined by the court in its discretion and charged against the estate.

The following form of petition is suggested as useful to enable the public administrator to bring such cases into court:

County Court...

In the matter of the

The petition of

That

County, Wisconsin-In Probate. ..of deceased.

public administrator of

.day of

county, Wisconsin, respectfully represents:
of
in said county died on the
. 19. ., intestate, as your petitioner is

informed and verily believes.

Your petitioner further alleges on information and belief:
That within six years before his death, said ...

owner of personal property of the probable value of

was the

Dollars, and of real estate within this state of the probable value of

That said

Dollars.

deceased, conveyed and transferred

his said estate or a material part thereof, to wit,.. within six years before his death, and in contemplation thereof, without adequate valuable consideration, and without the adjustment and payment of the inheritance tax to which such transfer is subject.

That the transfer of said estate appears to come under the provisions of the inheritance tax law of this state; that there appears to be an inheritance tax due upon said transfer, and that the same has never been adjusted nor paid, and is now due and owing to the county of and the state of Wisconsin.

That said deceased, died more than sixty days prior to the commencement of this proceeding; and that no application for administration, general or special, nor for the determination of such inheritance tax has ever been made.

That the following are the names of the heirs-at-law of said deceased and of others interested in said estate; their degree of relationship, their places of residence, and the ages of such as are minors:

Wherefore your petitioner prays that such special or general administration of the estate of said deceased as may be necessary for the purpose of the determination and collection of the inheritance tax provided by law, be granted unto or such

other person as may be entitled thereto, or as the court may approve.

(Verification).

EXTRACT FROM REPORT OF TAX COMMISSION.

The following is chapter 5 of the biennial report for 1912 of the tax commission, republished herewith because it is thought to be of sufficient interest and use to merit the attention of the officials who will have occasion to use this pamphlet. It may also be useful to attorneys and their clients by way of throwing some light upon the attitude of the commission, and in explaining recent amendments to the law. For the general public, so far as it may come to their attention, it will have some value in explaining the general theory and purpose of the inheritance tax as an easy and equitable means of reducing in some measure the constantly growing burdens of general taxation.

CHAPTER V-THE INHERITANCE TAX.

The temporary tax commission of 1897 recommended the adoption of a tax on legacies and successions as a partial substitute for the failing personal property tax (Report of 1898, pages 160–169); and such a tax has been advocated and approved in every subsequent report of the Tax Commission. This form of taxation was provided for by chapter 355, Laws of 1899, which was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court in the case of Black v. State, 113 Wis. 205, on the ground of unreasonable and unlawful classifications.

In 1903 the legislature enacted the present law, avoiding the unconstitutional features of the former act. This law was sustained in the case of Nunnemacher v. State, 129 Wis. 190, and

has been in successful operation ever since. The following table shows the amount of revenue produced annually to the state since the enactment of the law.