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          she and Mr. Capehart had approximately $2,000 in the bank, drove            
          older automobiles, and maintained an average standard of living.            
          Petitioner’s failure to offer credible evidence of her current              
          salary, her basic living expenses, her current debts, and all of            
          her current assets makes it impossible for us to evaluate her               
          ability to pay the liabilities allocated to her under section               
          6015(c).  Moreover, petitioner did not prove that requiring her             
          to pay the reduced liabilities resulting from the allocation of             
          liability under section 6015(c) would result in economic                    
          hardship.  We conclude, therefore, that petitioner has failed to            
          carry her burden of proving that requiring her to pay the reduced           
          liabilities would result in an economic hardship within the                 
          meaning of section 301.6343-1(b)(4), Proced. & Admin. Regs.                 
          Because petitioner has failed to establish that she will suffer             
          an economic hardship, we conclude that this positive factor does            
          not apply.                                                                  
                    c.  Abuse by Nonrequesting Spouse                                 
               Petitioner alleges that she was motivated to participate in            
          the investment because she feared Mr. Capehart.  For purposes of            
          this analysis, we shall treat petitioner’s allegation as an                 
          allegation that petitioner was abused by Mr. Capehart, and we               
          reject it.  The record simply does not support a finding that Mr.           
          Capehart persuaded petitioner to invest in the Hoyt partnerships            
          by threatening or abusing her.  Among other things, we note that            
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