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payment would survive her death. We reject both of these
arguments and the circular reasoning on which they rely.
Unallocated family support is a technique sometimes used in
domestic relations cases to encourage sensible cash-flow planning
between separated spouses.7 If used correctly, the technique
enables the parties to achieve a higher net transfer of funds to
the payee spouse because the payor spouse, who is generally in a
higher tax bracket, reaps an economic benefit from the larger tax
deduction obtained when unallocated family support payments are
structured to be deductible as alimony. See generally H. Rept.
98-432 (Part 2), at 1495 (1984). These unallocated payments,
while typically temporary, can facilitate the economic transition
that must occur as a result of a divorce or separation, provided
the parties understand and agree to the tax consequences.
In this case, the Temporary Orders are silent regarding the
tax consequences of the unallocated family support payments.
Although petitioners could have agreed to the tax consequences of
the payments, they failed to do so. See sec. 71(b)(1)(B) and
(c). Colorado's UDMA does not state expressly whether combined
spousal and child support payments must terminate on the death of
the payee spouse. We must examine, therefore, whether the
provisions of the UDMA applicable to temporary orders permit us
7This practice is sometimes referred to as "Lesterizing".
See Commissioner v. Lester, 366 U.S. 299 (1961).
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