In re Estate of Wiese

The following memorandum, submitted by Mr. McAllister, is adopted as the opinion of the court:

The question above formulated arises in the matter of the Estate of Frederick Wiese, deceased. Under the will of decedent all of the property over which decedent had the power of testamentary disposition—namely, one-half of the property of the estate, which was all community—was devised and bequeathed to persons not exempt under the statute.

The estate is ready for distribution, and the question now arises: On what basis shall the tax be computed—on the value of the property without deducting the cost of administration and the debts of the estate, or on the value of the property after making such deductions?

The statute does not seem to furnish a definite statement in reply; and so we must consider those portions of the statute that manifest the intention of the legislature in this respect.

Section 1 (Statutes of 1893, page 193) provides: “. . . . all property which shall pass by will or by the intestate laws of *375 this state .... to any person .... shall be and is subject to a tax of five dollars on every hundred dollars of the market value of such property.”

And section 9 (page…