United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. v. Kelly, 319 U.S. 94 (1943)

Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. v. Kelly

No. 659

Argued April 12, 13, 1943

Decided May 3, 1943

319 U.S. 94

Syllabus

1. A grantor domiciled in New Jersey made in New York in 1929 a transfer of securities. The transfer was in trust, and irrevocable, to pay the income to the grantor for life, then to his wife for life if he survived him; if she predeceased him, the principal was to go to two sons, nonresidents of New Jersey. The wife predeceased, and the sons survived the grantor, who, in 1936, died domiciled in New Jersey. The securities were at all times kept in New York, and there administered by the trustee. Held, a New Jersey tax upon the transfer, measured by the value of the securities at the time of the grantor's death, did not violate the due process or equal protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 319 U. S. 96.

2. The determination by the New Jersey courts, in applying the tax statute of that State, of the kind of interest transferred and the time when it was effected is a matter of local law, and is binding here. P. 319 U. S. 97.

129 N.J.L. 127, 28 A.2d 174, affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment sustaining the imposition of a state tax upon a transfer of property in trust.