- 15 - assets and liabilities, age, ability to earn, and responsibility for dependents. Petitioner is 64 years of age and has been unemployed for many years. Because Massachusetts is not a community property State, Cooley v. Commissioner, 27 B.T.A. 986, 988 (1933), affd. 75 F.2d 188 (1st Cir. 1935); Richman v. Richman, 555 N.E.2d 243, 664 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990), petitioner is not the owner of any of Mr. Sturges’s earnings. Her only income is her share of the income (the amount of which is unknown) from the charitable remainder trust. Petitioner and Mr. Sturges are still married, however, and Mr. Sturges continues to support petitioner. Petitioner owns the New York house she inherited from her parents and has assets that she owns jointly with Mr. Sturges; i.e., the residence and the land in Colorado. Those assets are available for payment of the tax liability. Petitioner asserts that since 2001 her family’s expenses have exceeded their income by $3,500 each month. She testified that she has used her credit cards to make up the difference and that at the time of the trial she had $30,000 of credit card debt. She testified that at the time of the trial there was only $15,000 remaining in the charitable remainder trust. Petitioner testified that a four-bedroom, 2�-bath house in her neighborhood sold for approximately $940,000 in April or May 2005. She asserts that her residence, subject to mortgagesPage: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Next
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