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determines various rights of the parties. Sampson v.
Commissioner, 81 T.C. 614, 618 (1983), affd. without published
opinion 829 F.2d 39 (6th Cir. 1987).
California Family Code section 4337 (West 1994) provides
that, “Except as otherwise agreed by the parties in writing, the
obligation of a party under an order for the support of the other
party terminates upon the death of either party or the remarriage
of the other party.” (Emphasis added.) Under California law, an
order for “spousal support” means an order for the support of the
spouse based upon the standard of living established during
marriage. On the other hand, “child support”, once ordered by a
court, survives the death of the payee custodial parent and
continues as an obligation of the payor noncustodial parent. In
re Marriage of McCann, 32 Cal. Rptr. 2d 639 (Ct. App. 1994); In
re Marriage of Gregory, 281 Cal. Rptr. 188 (Ct. App. 1991). The
third category, “family support”, is an unallocated combination
of “child support” and “spousal support”. Cal. Fam. Code secs.
92, 4330 (West 1994).
Petitioner argues that because family support is an
unallocated combination of child support and spousal support, he
must prevail since spousal support terminates at the death of the
payee. We believe the converse argument is equally persuasive
(i.e., that the payments are not alimony because child support
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