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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.
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