People v. Estate of Schilling (41 Ill. App. 3d 73, 1976)

Mr. JUSTICE GEORGE J. MORAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The State appeals from a judgment of the circuit court of St. Clair County overruling its objection to an inheritance tax return filed by the administrator of the estate of Herbert Schilling.

The issue on appeal is whether the benefits paid to a widow by a union pension plan upon the death of her husband are subject to Illinois inheritance tax.

Herbert Schilling, a plumber, was a member of the Plumbers’ and Pipefitters’ Union, Local 101. He died on March 29,1974, when a house on which he was working collapsed. He was 54 years of age, and a resident of Illinois, when he died.

The probate division of the circuit court of St. Clair County appointed the Belleville National Savings Bank administrator of Schilling’s estate. The bank, as administrator, filed an inheritance tax return in the circuit court evaluating the property passing from Herbert Schilling to his widow, Ruth Schilling, at *20,435.61. The bank did not include in this amount *16,392.69 paid from the union pension fund to the widow. The bank calculated that a tax of *8.71 was due on the widow’s inheritance.

Under section 11 of the Inheritance Tax Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 120, par. 385), the State objected to the bank’s failure to list the payment from the pension fund as part of the widow’s inheritance, claiming that the amount Ruth Schilling had received from her husband was *36,828.30, on which a tax of *336.57, rather than *8.71, was due. At the hearing in the circuit court, the State introduced into evidence a copy of the pension plan and trust agreement of the Plumbers’ and Pipefitters’ Union, Local 101.

The provisions of the pension plan and trust agreement were as follows. The union’s pension fund was to consist solely of employer contributions. Plumbing contractors were to contribute 75