McDougald

This is a proceeding to collect an inheritance tax on certain real property situate in the city and county of San Francisco, and conveyed by Frederick H. Wulzen, deceased, to his wife, Anna Wulzen, on July 26, 1909. The right to collect this tax is urged on two grounds, viz., that the transfer of the property was made in contemplation of death, and was not to take effect as to the grantee until after the death of the grantor. The trial court found against the plaintiff on both of these contentions, and these findings are attacked on this appeal. Whether the evidence supports them is the only question before the court. The matter is governed by the inheritance tax law of 1905 (Stats. 1905, p. 341).

A recital of the evidence in some detail seems proper. Mr. Wulzen, the grantor, was eighty-three years old on July 26, 1909. He was in reasonably good health for one of his years. He and his wife were about to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. He had gotten to a point in life where the care of his property annoyed him, and he told Mrs. Wulzen that he “did not wish to be longer bothered with it,” and that he would give her the property to do with as she wished. The…