Flournoy

The State Controller appeals from an order of the superior court which, in spite of the fact that decedent’s daughter had been adopted by decedent’s parents, fixed the inheritance tax on a bequest to the adopted daughter as if such bequest had been made to a lineal descendant. He claims the daughter is a “stranger.”

The case was tried and submitted to the superior court on an agreed statement. The significant facts are as follows:

Dorothy Hunter Cottrell, Sally’s natural mother, died on May 28, 1966. The second paragraph of her will reads as follows:

After leaving a series of bequests to various friends, the decedent directed that the residue of her estate be distributed in trust in the following manner: (a) income for life to her husband George Cottrell, his interest being valued in the report of the inheritance tax appraiser at $602,461.76; (b) after George’s death, income for life to Sally Hunter, described in the will as the “adopted daughter of my deceased mother,” her interest being valued in the report at $1,223,491.95; and (c) remainder in equal shares to Damon Runyon Cancer Fund and the American Cancer Society, their interests being valued at $775,835.33…