- 14 - strong-proof rule.11 See Pettid v. Commissioner, supra. The marital settlement, in reference to the guaranty obligation of Mr. Hoffman, consistently refers to payments made “to the Wife”, and the possibility that “the Wife” would have to repay amounts to Mr. Hoffman if corporate distributions from SCC and WLI exceeded guaranteed payments made by Mr. Hoffman under the guaranty provision. There is no reference to decedent’s heirs or assigns in connection with decedent or Mr. Hoffman’s obligations under the guaranty provision. Additionally, the offset provisions found in the alimony section, and the guaranty obligation found in the division of marital property section, are dependent on each other for purposes of determining the amount of spousal support decedent was required to receive. The alimony payments, which were intertwined with the guaranty obligation and excess compensation provisions, terminated on the death of either decedent or Mr. Hoffman. On the basis of the language in the guaranty provision and the dependent relationship between that provision and the alimony section, we find that the terms of the marital settlement are unclear with respect to whether the guaranty obligation of Mr. Hoffman survived decedent’s death. 11This Court has been reluctant to apply either rule in situations involving the interpretation of a divorce settlement agreement. See Weiner v. Commissioner, 61 T.C. 155, 159-160 (1973); Mirsky v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 664, 674-675 (1971); Gerlach v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 156, 169 (1970); Hopkinson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-154.Page: Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011