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provided to Walter.5 The Settlement Agreement then provides with
respect to the pension payment and benefits as follows:
So long as Wife receives her pension payment and
benefits as herein set forth, Wife waives her right to
alimony pursuant to 13 Del. C. �1512(d). Upon the sale
of Walter S. Bandurski, Inc. and the termination of
Wife’s pension payment and the other benefits provided
herein, the parties shall attempt to agree on Wife’s
entitlement to alimony, if any, and upon their failure
to agree, the matter shall be submitted to the Family
Court for a determination.
On the basis of these provisions, and the fact that the
Settlement Agreement by its terms was intended to settle Walter
and Barbara’s “respective rights and obligations against and to
one another”, we conclude that the payments at issue satisfied
Barbara’s rights to alimony and relieved Walter of an obligation
to make alimony payments. Barbara waived her right to alimony
for so long as the payments under the Pension Agreement
continued. Petitioner argues that Barbara’s waiver of her
alimony rights was made in exchange for various benefits she
received under the Settlement Agreement other than the payments
under the Pension Agreement–-e.g., exclusive occupancy of the
5 It is not clear from the record whether the amounts
petitioner reported as compensation to Barbara on Forms W-2 and
claimed as wages deductions for the years in issue consisted of
(i) the weekly $375 payments provided for in the Pension
Agreement (as adjusted for inflation) or (ii) the foregoing plus
the “benefits” (automobile use, health insurance) provided for in
the Settlement Agreement. As respondent’s determination covered
a specified figure in each year, and the parties have not
addressed this possible distinction, we do not consider it
further.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011