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divorce decree did not fix certain portion of payments as child
support).
Here, Mr. Simpson made payments toward the delinquent
utility bill that accrued after he left the marital residence.
The utility payments were for expenses incurred for the family
home. We have held that payments by a former husband for
utilities on a family home, which he made in support of his
former wife and children, were alimony. See Graham v.
Commissioner, supra. This is true even if the husband was
contractually obligated to the utility companies to make the
payments. See Zampini v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1991-395.
Accordingly, to the extent Mr. Simpson actually made the $70
monthly payments for delinquent utilities, they are includable in
petitioner's income as alimony. The record reflects that the
total delinquent utility liability was paid off sometime before
1995. Thus, there were no payments made to petitioner or on her
behalf for delinquent utilities in 1995.
As for 1994, petitioner could not establish the number of
months for which Mr. Simpson paid the $70 to the utilities
companies. She did, however, through her own testimony and the
testimony of Mr. Simpson, provide a reasonable estimate of the
number of payments made in 1994. Based on the information
contained in the record, we conclude that Mr. Simpson made three
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