- 19 - Grummer v. Commissioner, 46 T.C. at 680. In that case, the Court found "no ambiguity of the agreement." Id. at 679. The Danielson rule, the "strong proof" rule, and the Grummer holding all relate to the same issue: whether a party to a binding agreement should be permitted to avoid the tax consequences that would otherwise flow from the unambiguous terms of the agreement. The Danielson rule and the "strong proof" rule differ in the level of proof necessary to challenge the tax consequences of an agreement. The Grummer case adopts a rule prohibiting consideration of extrinsic evidence in interpreting the unambiguous language of a divorce decree or separation agreement. None of the three theories relied upon by respondent apply to the instant case. All three theories apply only in the case of an unambiguous agreement. However, we find paragraph 1.f) of the Annulment Agreement to be ambiguous because it does not state whether, or to what extent, the "periodic support payments" are in settlement of a claim for damages under the Bartling lawsuit or are payments in connection with the annulment of petitioner's purported marriage to Ms. Wagner. Paragraph 1 of the Annulment Agreement states that the transfers of property andPage: Previous 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011