Opinion
No. 36336
Decided July 13, 1960.
Taxation — Succession tax — Exemptions — "Institution for purposes only of public charity" construed — Includes religious purposes — Section 5731.09, Revised Code.
CERTIFIED by the Court of Appeals for Franklin County.
The decedent, Miller, died testate on October 28, 1954. She made a specific bequest of money to the Board of Trustees of the Central Presbyterian Church of Columbus, the income from such bequest to "be used by such board of trustees for such purpose or purposes as it deems proper." In the residuary clause of her will, decedent gave to her attorney the residue of her estate to be distributed by him to such charitable institutions in Columbus as he should deem proper. The attorney divided the residue among several charitable institutions in Columbus, including the Central Presbyterian Church.
The Probate Court held that the bequests to the Central Presbyterian Church were subject to the succession tax under Section 5731.02, Revised Code.
Since The Children's Hospital of Columbus is the ultimate beneficiary under the residuary clause of the will, and by the terms of the will succession taxes were to be paid from the estate, the hospital has an actual financial interest in the determination of the succession tax and filed exceptions to the determination of such tax. The church and the executor of the estate also filed exceptions. The exceptions were disallowed.
The Court of Appeals found that the Central Presbyterian Church is conducted for both charitable and religious purposes, that these benefits are open and available to the public generally, and that the bequests to the church were exempt from the succession tax, and reversed the judgment of the Probate Court.
The judges, finding that the judgment on which they agreed is in conflict with a judgment pronounced on the same question by the Court of Appeals of the Fifth Appellate District in the case of In re Estate of Taggart, No. 2778, Stark County, certified the record to this court for review and final determination of the cause.
Messrs. Vorys, Sater, Seymour Pease, Mr. John C. Elam and Mr. James B. Linville, for appellee.
Mr. Mark McElroy, attorney general, and Mr. Joseph D. Karam, for appellant.
The Tax Commissioner contends that the Court of Appeals erred in finding that the specific bequest to the board of trustees of the church was exempt from the succession tax, and that the board of trustees qualified for exemption as an "institution for purposes only of public charity" within the meaning of Section 5731.09, Revised Code (Recodification Act of 1953) as in effect on the date of decedent's death.
It is disclosed from an examination of the record that the Central Presbyterian Church is being conducted for both religious and charitable purposes, and that these benefits are available to the public generally. Is such an organization an "institution for purposes only of public charity" within the meaning of that phrase as found in Section 5731.09, Revised Code, as in effect on the date of decedent's death?
This question has been answered in the affirmative by this court in the case of In re Estate of Seaman (1956), 166 Ohio St. 51, paragraph three of the syllabus of which reads as follows:
"If the benefits of an institution organized and conducted for religious and other charitable purposes only are open and available to the public generally, such institution is an `institution for purposes only of public charity' within the meaning of those words as used in Section 5334, General Code (Section 5731.09, Revised Code)."
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed on authority of that case.
Judgment affirmed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., TAFT, MATTHIAS and PECK, JJ., concur.