In Re Estate of Sloane

[249]

At the close of the argument Shaw, J., delivered the opinion of the court, Sloss, J., and Lawlor, J., concurring.

In this case the sum of $6,334.40 represented one-third of the estate, and all of it that could be distributed to charitable purposes. The will contained two charitable bequests; one a specific bequest of four thousand dollars to Brandon College, the other a bequest of the residue to the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis. The court below distributed to Brandon College the four thousand dollars and the excess, $2,334.40, constituting the residue of the estate, to the First Baptist Church. The deceased died in this state but was, at the time of his death, a resident of Minnesota. The estate consisted of personal property situated in California. Minnesota has no law limiting the amount which a testator may give to charitable purposes. This state limits the amount to one-third of the estate. (Civ. Code, sec. 1313.) The question which law governs is settled by the decisions in

Estate of Dwyer,

159 Cal. 680, [115 Pac. 242], and

Estate of Lathrop,

165 Cal. 243, [131 Pac. 752], In

Estate of Dwyer

the court declared the rule that the personal property of a nonresident is subject to distribution under the laws of this state where the property is situated in this state at the time of the death of the testator. It further held that the provision of section 1313, that only one-third of the estate could be distributed to charitable purposes, means, in the case of a nonresident, one-third of the entire estate, not merely one-third of that part of the estate which was situated in this state. In the

Estate of Lathrop,

the precise question presented here was involved, and it was not complicated by the fact that part of the estate of the nonresident testator was situated in another state. Again, it was held that the personal property situated in this state at the time of the testator’s death must be distributed according to the laws of this state. These decisions control here, and they support the decision of the court below limiting the bequests to charitable purposes to one-third of the estate.