Inheritance tax is placed on the right for a person to succeed to adecedent’s property, rather than on the property. In some jurisdictions,the classification of beneficiaries could lead to some serious legal issues. In2009, Odle passed away leaving a will behind. The estate classified eachbeneficiary as either Class B or Class C beneficiary for inheritance taxpurposes. The probate court accepted the return. Four months later, the estatefiled a refund claim affirming that the beneficiaries should have beenclassified as Class A beneficiaries. The department the same afternoondenied the refund.
In Estate ofOdle v. Ind. Dep’t of State Rev., the court held the classificationof beneficiaries were properly classified under Odle’s will. However,after the Olde case, Indiana’s inheritance tax was repealed post Dec. 31, 2012.
See Tax Court Buries Estate’s Constitutional Challenges to Indiana’s Inheritance Tax, Tax Hatchet Jun. 28, 2013.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
