Burkey

This appeal is about an estate or inheritance tax masquerading as a graduated probate court user or filing fee (hereafter, the fee). Noelle Claeyssens Burkey, executor of the estate of Pierre P. Claeyssens, appeals from an order denying her petition to refund a $74,411.52 fee imposed pursuant to Government Code former sections 26827 and 68087. To the extent that these statutes authorize the fee, they were enacted in violation of the state Constitution and are of no force or effect. Proposition 6 (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 13301), coupled with the California Constitution (art. II, § 10, subd. (c)), *468 provide that the Legislature alone may not impose an estate or inheritance tax. We are compelled to reverse. 1

Facts

Pierre P. Claeyssens died testate in 2003, naming appellant as the estate executor. Appellant filed a petition to probate the will and for letters testamentary a week later, and paid (under protest) a $29,197 filing fee based on the estate’s $15 million estimated value. (Gov. Code, former § 26827.) Over the next three years, appellant filed accountings and requested that the probate court review inventories and appraisals on 12 different portions of the estate,…