STAMP DUTY CASE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19672, 14 December 1933, Page 4

STAMP DUTY CASE

THE CLIFFORD ESTATE. By Telegraph—Press Association CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 13. Did the late Sir George Clifford at any time before his death make a gift of the whole of his interest in the historic Flaxbourne Estate to his sdn, the present baronet, Sir Charles Clifford? This was the main question before Mr Justice Ostler in the Supreme Court to-day, when the trustees and executors of the will contended that the ac f ion of the Commissioner of Stamp Duties in Including in the assessment of the estate of £570.647, the principal and interest owing under the mortgages on this gift to Sir Charles, was ' rong. The respondents contended that no sucli gift had been made by Sir George, and if it was made, it was not completed, and in any case, the assessment was correct. The question for the opinion of the Court was whether the sums were rightly included In the amount upon which death duty was assessed in respect of the estate. In outlining the history of the case, counsel harked back nearly 60 years ago, when the late Sir F. A. Weld and the late Sir Charles Clifford, grandfather o' the present baronet, set up as partners in the Flaxbourne Estate of 50,000 acres. Sir George Clifford died on April 17. 1930, leaving an estate, the final balance of which had been provisionally assessed at )1570.G47. Included in each assessment was his interest in certain land in Marlborough., known as the Flaxbourne Estate. ppellants alleged that some time i: 1920 Sir George made a gift of his interest in the whole of this estate to Sir Charles, and such gift was completed. DP*L:on was reserved