Cory v. Kaplan

Opinion

MILLER, J. Kenneth Cory, State Controller (Controller), appeals from a decision of the superior court overruling his objection to the amended report of the inheritance tax referee with respect to the estate of Dorothy T. Cottle (Cottle). The sole issue presented on appeal is whether the provisions of Revenue and Taxation Code section 13957 (section 13957) are operative for the estates of persons dying after December 31, 1974.

Cottle died on December 7, 1981. The original report of the inheritance tax referee reported total tax due the state in the amount of $1,691,614.04. The executor, Harry J. Kaplan, objected to that report on the ground that the referee had not valued the principal asset of the estate, approximately 70 acres of land, under the provisions of section 13957 although the executor had requested such valuation. After a hearing, the court ruled that the provisions of section 13957 apply to the estates of persons dying both before and after December 31, 1974, and ordered the referee to value the property in accordance with that section.

The referee thereafter filed an amended report, valuing the property pursuant to section 13957 and reporting total tax due the state in the amount of $380,412. The Controller objected to the amended report on the ground that the provisions of section 13957 are not operative for the estates of persons dying after December 31, 1974. The objection was overruled and this appeal followed.

Section 13957, prescribing an optional method of valuing properties subject to open-space restrictions under the Williamson Act (Gov. Code, [1026]§ 51200 et seq.), was added to the Revenue and Taxation Code by the Statutes of 1970, chapter 1453, section 1. Chapter 1453 contained three sections, the full text of which are set forth in the margin.1 Section 2 thereof declared the legislative intent that section 13957 be operative only during a transitional period, and section 3 provided that the act would not be operative for the estates of any persons dying after December 31, 1974 (hereafter the expiration date).

In 1973 section 13957 was amended to change the word “appraiser” to the word “referee.” (Stats. 1973, ch. 78, § 9, p. 135.)2 Chapter 78 contained 25 sections and was entitled “[a]n act relating to the maintenance of various codes . . . .’’It amended various provisions of the Public Utilities Code, the Revenue and Taxation Code and the Vehicle Code. The executor argues, and the court below apparently agreed, that because section 3 of chapter 1453 was not repeated in chapter 78, it was repealed. We do not agree and accordingly reverse the order overruling the objection to the amended report.