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Factors which indicate that the payments are in the nature of a
property settlement rather than support are: (1) That the
parties in their agreement (or the court in its decree) intended
the payments to effect a division of their assets, (2) that the
recipient surrendered valuable property rights in exchange for
the payments, (3) that the payments are fixed in amount and not
subject to contingencies, such as the death or remarriage of the
recipient, (4) that the payments are secured, (5) that the amount
of the payments plus the other property awarded to the recipient
equals approximately one-half of the property accumulated by the
parties during marriage, (6) that the need of the recipient was
not taken into consideration in determining the amount of the
payments, and (7) that a separate provision for support was
provided elsewhere in the decree or agreement. Beard v.
Commissioner, supra at 1284-1285.
In the case at hand, the State court stated specifically in
the divorce decree that the payments at issue were to be made to
petitioner for her interest in the marital property.
Furthermore, there was a separate provision for support distinct
from the property settlement provisions. The property settlement
payments are fixed in amount and the only contingencies applied
to the payments are their termination upon the death of
petitioner or Mr. Newell. Finally, there is no indication that
petitioner’s needs were taken into account in the initial award
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