Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

TREA'ITORNEYGENERAL OF %-E-US Ron. Robert S. Calvert Opinion No. C-575 Comptrollerof mbllc Account8 ‘.~ Auatln, Texas Re: Method of cmputlng Inheritancetaxes where the deceased husband's will disposed in its entirety of some of the .c-lty tstatt, and the surviving wldow elected to take thtre- under rectlvlng as a result of said election proptrty In excess of her one-half Intertat in Pear Mr. Calve&: the entire community. You have requested tht -opinionof thla office on tht above captionedmatttr and in connection thertwlth have ~advlsedus of certain~facts. You have also furnishedus with a brief written by tht attorney for the tatatt. The decedent's will was admitted to probate. In his will, the decedent attempted to.dlspose of the tntlre~commnltJ Interest In stvdral lttms of property. Iht mrvlvlng widow elected to-take under the ulll rathtr than to rttaln her com- munity one-half Interest In all of the camunity properties. This she did by accepting the prwlslons of the will and receiving benefits thtrtundtr. .61 Tax.Ju.r.24 431-433, 8 277. As a result of her tltctlon, the survlvlug uldow rtctlved proptrtlts of a valut greater thau the value OS her one-half of the commnlty plus her $25,000 txtlhptlon. The attorney for the estate takes the position that in computing the lnhtrltanct taxes due, tht eurvlvlng widow should be allowed to off-s& tht value of her commnlty one- half interest against the value of the proptrtlttlshe received under the will. -2777- Hon. Robert S. Calvert, Page 2 Opinion No. C-575 In Calvert v. Fort Worth National Bank, 163 Tex. 405, 356 S.W.2d 918 (1962), the court held that the community Interest of the wife did not pass by "will" to beneficiaries other than the wife within the meaning of the Inheritance tax statute (Art. 14.01, Title 122A, Vol. 20A, Taxation-General, V.C.S.) where the husband's will bequeathed the home and certain personal property to his wife and the remainder of his separate and all of the balance of the community property was devised and bequeathed In trust for the benefit of the wife, who elected to take under the will, with remainder interest to the other beneficiaries. The owner of one-half of the.communlty property in the Fort Worth Natlonal Bank case was the surviving widow. In that case, no tax had been assessed against the widow since what she took under the will did not exceed the value of her community interest plus the $25,003 statutory exemption. You are advised that in this case, as the wife received, under the will pro erty of a greater value than her community Interest plus the $ 25,000 exemption, the value of the property received by the wife In excess of the value of her community Interest less the $25,000 statutory exemption Is subject to the Inheritance tax at the rates provided In Article 14.02, Title 122A, 20A, Taxation-General, Vernon's Civil Statutes. Likewise, under the holding of the,Fort Worth National Bank case, the tax, If any, dut from the other beneficiaries under the will should be computed only upon the value of'the property received from the deceased husband's one-half com- munity Interest less the applicable statutory exemption. SUMMARY ------- Where the deceased husband's will disposed In Its entirety of some of the community estate, and the survlvlng widow elected to take thereunder, receiving, as a result of said election, property in excess of the value of her one-half Interest in the entire community, the value of the property received In excess of the value of her community interest less the $25,000 -2i78- . . Hon. Robert S. Calve&, Page 3 Opinion No. C-575 statutory exemption, Is subject to an Inheritance tax at the rates pro- vided In Article 14.02. The tax,i'lf any, due from tht othtr btneflclarlta under the will should be computed'konly upon the value of the property re&elvtd from the dtceastd husband's one-half community Interest less the applicable statutory exemption. Yours very truly, UAOQONER CARR Attorney General HMcGP:dl APPROVZD: OPINION COMMITTRE W. V. Gepptrt, Chairman J. H. Broadhurst Gordon C. Cam Wade Anderson Y. 0. Shultz APPROVED FOR TRE ATl’ORN’EY QERERAL BY: T. B. Wright -2779-