Abstract & Title Guaranty Co. v. State

Plaintiff sued under the provisions of subdivision “A” et seq. of section 29 of the inheritance tax law of 1905 (Stats. 1905, pp. 341, 351) to quiet its title to the real property described in the complaint, against the state’s claim of lien of an inheritance tax. Defendant by its answer averred that the deed upon which plaintiff’s claim of title was founded had been made by the grantor in contemplation of death, and to take the place of a testamentary disposition of the realty. After trial upon the issues joined judgment was given in favor of the state. Plaintiff appeals from the judgment and from an order denying its motion for a new trial.

Plaintiff’s asserted title is derived through mesne conveyances from the Hely Estate Company, a corporation of which Gorges Hely’s three sons and only heirs are the sole stockholders, each holding an equal proportion of the stock. The important document upon which plaintiff’s alleged title depends is a deed from Gorges Hely to the Hely Estate Company dated July 10, 1908, and recorded soon thereafter. Plaintiff offered this deed in evidence. In it the grantor Gorges Hely was described as “the'party of the first part,” and the corporation as…