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amount of support as the circumstances warrant but
under no circumstances does the court have the
jurisdiction or the authority to raise spousal support
over the amount of $5,250.00 per month.
MEDICAL INSURANCE
29. Carol acknowledges that she is responsible
from [sic] her own medical insurance and expenses
* * *.
OPINION
This case is another chapter in the long saga of cases
decided by this Court involving the failure of parties to divorce
settlement agreements to specify what happens to payments should
the payee-spouse die. See, e.g., Berry v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 2005-91; Kean v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2003-163, affd.
407 F.3d 186 (3d Cir. 2005); Hoover v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo.
1995-183, affd. 102 F.3d 842 (6th Cir. 1996). By failing to so
specify, the divorce litigants simply abdicate making a serious
financial decision that others may then make for them, as here.
John and Carol both testified in this case, and,
unsurprisingly, their testimony was contradictory on most points.
The testimony of the respective Parties was, for the most part,
aimed at supporting, explaining, or modifying the express terms
of the Agreement. Consequently, we base our decision solely on
the terms of the Agreement itself, rather than on any extrinsic
evidence proffered by the Parties’ testimony.
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