- 16 - death, and, further, that he did not intend to make any payments to the estate under the guaranty.12 The estate also presented the testimony of Stephen Sessums (Mr. Sessums), the attorney who represented Mr. Hoffman in his divorce proceedings with decedent. Mr. Sessums testified that he participated in the drafting of the marital settlement and that the guaranty obligation was intended to run personally to decedent and to terminate on her death. He noted that the guaranty provision did not preserve the right to the guaranteed payments for decedent’s heirs or assigns and that death was not inserted into the agreement as a condition terminating the guaranteed payments because it was not contemplated that the guaranties would flow to anyone else. Mr. Sessums testified that he believed that neither party intended for Mr. Hoffman to make the guaranteed payments after the death of decedent and that the guaranty provision was simply a backup for the alimony and was intended to give decedent self-sufficiency. Finally, the estate presented the testimony of Mark Ossian (Mr. Ossian), one of decedent’s attorneys in her divorce proceedings. Mr. Ossian testified that the guaranty obligation of Mr. Hoffman was tied to the alimony provision and that the whole intention of the guaranteed payments was to provide 12We note that Mr. Hoffman is not a beneficiary of decedent’s estate.Page: Previous 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011