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associated with Irene's attendance at college. This agreement
was held invalid by the circuit court. The decision of the State
court, however, is not dispositive of the issue before this
Court. Section 1.71-1(b)(2)(i), Income Tax Regs., provides that
"payments are includible in the wife's gross income whether or
not the agreement is a legally enforceable instrument." This
Court's decisions reflect that the unenforceability of an agree-
ment under State law does not prevent the deduction of payments
made pursuant to such an agreement. Taylor v. Campbell, 335 F.2d
841 (5th Cir. 1964); Engelhardt v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 641
(1972); Campbell v. Commissioner, 15 T.C. 355 (1950). We there-
fore conclude that the payments by Edward during 1988 were made
under a written separation agreement for purposes of section
71(a)(2).5 Taylor v. Campbell, supra at 846; Engelhardt v. Com-
missioner, supra at 648.
The requirements of section 71(a)(2) having been met, we
find that Irene's gross income includes the payments made to her
by Edward pursuant to the written separation agreement of
March 17, 1983. Moreover, we find that these payments are
deductible by Edward pursuant to section 215, which provides for
the deductibility of such payments.
2. The 1989 and 1990 Payments
5This would include any payment made by Edward to or on
behalf of Irene pursuant to the agreement during January of 1989,
before the effective date of the Circuit Court's order requiring
Edward to make temporary maintenance payments.
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