During the years at issue, petitioner had $4,000
deposited into her IRA account.
Petitioner withdrew large sums from the Home Unity
bank account. This money came from insurance proceeds
received after petitioners' house was damaged by fire that
had been deposited directly in the Home Unity account.
Renovations must have been accomplished with other money
since the insurance money remained in the bank while
renovations were performed on the house. Petitioner did
not show us any alternative source of funds for these
renovations. We therefore infer that such funds were
traceable to the understatements or the items underlying
the understatements. [R's brief, p. 52]
Petitioner maintained six other bank accounts either
jointly with Mr. DiMichele or individually. Petitioner has
made no showing as to the source of the funds in these
accounts.
During the years at issue, payments of $367.31 were
made or the debt was retired in some way on a Cadillac
purchased by the DiMicheles in 1983. The purchase of the
Cadillac and the use of the vehicle constitutes a benefit
to petitioner.
Petitioner testified that when Mr. DiMichele began his
prison term, he gave petitioner approximately $40,000 to
live on while he was incarcerated. Petitioner claims this
constituted normal support. In Estate of Krock, a wife
claiming innocent spouse relief was deemed to have
benefitted beyond normal support by carrying out a unique
and unusual lifestyle. The wife had joined her husband who
fled to the Bahamas as a fugitive from justice. She
claimed that since life in exile was a source of
unhappiness, any benefit received during this period should
not be considered anything above normal support. In
rejecting this argument, the Court observed that her
ability to maintain life abroad with her husband who was
avoiding arrest and trial could not be described as "normal
support." Estate of Krock, supra at 684. Similarly,
petitioner's receipt of a large amount of cash to live on
while her husband was in jail constitutes an unusual
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