Trippet

This action was brought by the executor of the will of Jacob Gruendike, deceased, pursuant to the provisions of the act, approved March 20, 1905, (Stats. 1905, p. 374,) authorizing the bringing of an action against the state by the personal representatives of a decedent for the purpose of having it determined that any property belonging to such decedent’s estate is not subject to any lien for taxes under the act of 1893, and the acts amendatory thereof, imposing a tax on collateral inheritances. (Stats. 1893, p. 193.)

Prom the allegations of the complaint it appears that Jacob Gruendike, a resident of San Diego County, died testate on April 8, 1905, leaving estate in said county and elsewhere of the value of between three hundred thousand and four hundred thousand dollars. On April 28, 1905, the superior court of San Diego County duly admitted the decedent’s will to probate and appointed the plaintiff executor. By the will, which is set out in full in the complaint, the residue, comprising nearly the whole of the estate, is given to the-testator’s living brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces, and the children of deceased nephews and nieces. There are some forty beneficiaries,…