- 10 - in Commissioner v. Lester, 366 U.S. 299, 303 (1961), that it is the "'written instrument' that must 'fix'" the portion of the payment that is for child support. Petitioner replies that Lester has been overruled by statute. While it is true that the result in Lester has been overruled by section 71(c)(2), the principles of Lester still apply to cases to which the latter provision does not. See, e.g., Raymond v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-219; Ambrose v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-128. Of course, the statutory requirements are satisfied when an amount is payable entirely on behalf of the child. See Sperling v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1982-681, affd. 726 F.2d 948 (2d Cir. 1984)(college tuition payments). But the language of the support order in this case makes an unallocated award of support to spouse and child. By making an unallocated award of support, in view of the language of Pa. R. Civ. P. 1910.16-5(f), it appears that the court of common pleas intended that the full amount of the periodic payments would be taxable to petitioner and deductible by Mr. Lawton. See Mannina v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1985-565. We observe also that the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (DEFRA), Pub. L. 98-369, sec. 422(a), 98 Stat. 795-796, reenacted as section 71(c)(1) the language of former section 71(b)(1) requiring the divorce or separation instrument to fix the amount of child support. In addition, DEFRA enacted "new" sectionPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
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