Hellman v. United States

WAITE, Circuit Justice. The judgment in this case is affirmed. The distinction between taxes on legacies and taxes on successions is so clearly stated by Judge Shepley, of the First circuit, in Mason v. Sargent [supra], that it is only necessary to refer to that case as authority for this decision. In cases of succession, the right to the tax does not accrue until the successor becomes entitled to the possession or enjoyment of the estate to which he succeeds, but in cases of pecuniary legacies it accrues upon the death of the testator, though not payable until the legatee becomes entitled to the benefit of his legacy. Clapp v. Mason, 94 U. S. 589, was a case of a tax upon a succession.