Cranston

Martin Frederick Joseph Teddy died testate on August 13, 1960, naming the respondent, Ruth Anna Gianassi, as executrix and the residuary legatee of the bulk of his estate. On this appeal by the Controller of the State of California from an order of the probate court sustaining respondent’s objection to the report of the inheritance tax appraiser and fixing the tax, the only question presented is whether the respondent is entitled to be classified as a Class A transferee under section 13307, or as a Class D transferee under section 13310 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

The record reveals the following facts: Respondent was born on July 21, 1896. Her natural father died in 1905 and her mother thereafter took in boarders. In January 1911, her mother met the decedent at a party. About two months later, the decedent came to live with respondent, her mother sister and uncle, as a paying roomer and boarder. A friendly relationship developed between the decedent and respondent’s mother. Soon thereafter, there was talk of a marriage between the respondent’s mother and the decedent. Thus, on the respondent's 15th birthday (July 21, 1911), the decedent was living in respondent’s mother’s…