- 7 -
an amount equal to the amount of such reduction
will be treated as an amount fixed as payable for
the support of children of the payor spouse.
Thus, under section 71(c), if under the terms of the divorce
or separation instrument any amount specified in the instrument
will be reduced on the happening of a contingency relating to a
child, including the child's attaining a specified age, an amount
equal to the amount of the reduction will be treated as child
support and will not qualify as alimony.
In the case before us, we have no difficulty in concluding
that the Judgment's termination of the $2,000 monthly payments to
Rebecca coinciding with Justin's eighteenth birthday is precisely
the kind of contingency contemplated by the statute, which
renders payments of the kind under scrutiny ineligible for
treatment as alimony. We reached the same conclusion in Fosberg
v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1992-713, involving an almost
identical "contingency". In addition, if further support for
this conclusion were needed, section 1.71-1T(c), Q&A-16,
Temporary Income Tax Regs., 49 Fed. Reg. 34456 (Aug. 31, 1984),
provides, among other things, that
A payment will be treated as fixed as payable for the
support of a child of the payor spouse if the payment is
reduced (a) on the happening of a contingency relating to a
child of the payor, or (b) at a time which can clearly be
associated with such a contingency. A payment may be
treated as fixed as payable for the support of a child of
the payor spouse even if other separate payments
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011