AN ACT APPROPRIATING MONEY OUT OF THE STATE TREASURY TO PAY A CLAIM OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM WINDER LAIRD, DECEASED, AGAINST THE STATE OF DELAWARE.
WHEREAS, on September 28, 1931, while litigation was in progress respecting the amount for which the Estate of William Winder Laird, Deceased, was liable for Federal Estate Tax, the Executors of said Estate paid to the State Treasurer of the State of Delaware the sum of $400,000.00 on account of the liability of said Estate of Delaware Estate Tax; and
WHEREAS there has recently been a decision in said litigation after final hearing, from which decision it now appears that, in the payment of said $400,000.00 to the State Treasurer, said Executors overpaid the amount due to the State of Delaware for Delaware Estate Tax by the sum of $184,497.16; and
WHEREAS some question has been raised as to whether the amount of said overpayment is refundable under the provisions of Section 143 of the Revised Code of Delaware of 1935, as amended, providing for refunds of overpayments to the State of Delaware for Delaware Estate Tax, because said William Winder Laird died prior to the enactment of said statute; now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. The sum of $184,497.16 is hereby appropriated to be paid to Walter J. Laird and Philip D. Laird, surviving Executors of the Estate of William Winder Laird, Deceased, or to the person at the time having the execution of the will of said Deceased, as a refund of Delaware Estate Tax erroneously overpaid by said Executors to the State Treasurer of the State of Delaware, payment thereof to be made as in Section 2 of this Act provided.
Section 2. Within thirty days after the end of the fiscal year of the State terminating June 30, 1939, and within thirty (30) days after the end of each fiscal year thereafter until payment in full of the amount appropriated in Section 1 of this Act shall have been made, the aggregate amounts paid for Inheritance and Estate taxes under the Laws of the State of Delaware for the preceding fiscal year shall be ascertained by the State Treasurer, and a sum equivalent to the excess above the sum of $400,000.00 received during the preceding fiscal year on account of such Inheritance and Estate taxes shall be paid to the said surviving Executors of William Winder Laird, Deceased, or to the person at the time having the execution of the will of said Deceased, on account of the amount appropriated in Section 1 of this Act until the amounts so paid shall aggregate the amount so appropriated. The amount appropriated in Section 1 of this Act shall bear interest at the rate of four per centum (4%) per annum from the date of the approval of this Act until paid, and there shall also be paid to the said surviving Executors, or to the person at the time having the execution of said will, semi-annually, from and after the date of the approval of this Act, from monies in the State Treasury not otherwise appropriated, accrued interest on the amount appropriated in Section 1 hereof, or on any unpaid balance thereof, at the rate of four per centum (4%) per annum.
Section 3. The State Treasurer and the State Auditor are hereby authorized and directed to draw and deliver to the said surviving Executors, or to the person at the time having the execution of said will, from time to time, proper state warrants in accordance with Sections 1 and 2 of this Act.